Nathan Rosquist is a member of the Art Monastery, which is a wonderful project based in Italy of artists living together in community exploring what it means to be an Art Monk.  He also blogs at Otherhood where he writes about monasticism and art (yes, my favorite topics).  Nathan was so gracious in inviting me to talk with him about my new book The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom, and our shared passions of creativity and contemplation.  Stop by his post for an interview (about a half hour long).  Leave a comment at his blog for a

If you deal with chronic illness or know someone who does, consider joining Benedictine oblate Judy Smoot this summer to form an online community to explore the ways monastic spirituality can support the journey. . . *If you are interested in joining this program, please register soon so that we can determine if we have enough participants to move ahead* This 8-week online course facilitated by Judy Smoot, OblSB , offers participants an opportunity to share with others who live with chronic disease or who support someone with chronic disease. Some illnesses bring little long-term disruption to life.  We may

Archetypes are symbols or patterns which appear across cultures.  We find them in the great myths and stories of religious traditions, we find them in our nighttime dreams.  They are active within each of us as a multiplicity of energies which we can draw upon.  When we are living from a place of balance and fullness we have access to more dimensions of ourselves.  Most of us tend to identify with a few dominant archetypes.  Maybe you find a powerful sense of life purpose in caring for others and identify more with the Mother archetype.  Maybe your story carries a lot of abandonment and you

June 12 – August 6, 2011 This summer I will be taking a sabbatical from teaching, but the Abbey is delighted to offer this class with Judy Smoot, a fellow Benedictine oblate, to explore monastic wisdom for living with illness. Course Description This 8-week online course facilitated by Judy Smoot, OblSB , offers participants an opportunity to share with others who live with chronic disease or who support someone with chronic disease. Some illnesses bring little long-term disruption to life.  We may feel that our network of support is sufficient, our way of connecting with God remains unchanged, and there is little

The lovely Edith O’Nuallain posted this great review of Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements to Story Circle Network: In her book Water, Wind, Earth and Fire, author and contemplative artist Christine Valters Paintner explores the four natural elements named in the title and traditionally associated with ancient philosophies and nature-based religions. Paintner examines each element in turn as a metaphor for the myriad ways spiritual seekers can learn to connect with the divine matrix and unfathomable mysteries which fill the earth we walk upon. Hence, this book is primarily about learning to

Last year I offered the invitation to my readers to consider a word shimmering for them that might carry them throughout the year.  There were 140 beautiful postings and I later created a Wordle from the entries as a celebration of the prayers gathered.  I offer the same invitation this year and again some prizes to give away: In ancient times, wise men and women fled out into the desert to find a place where they could be fully present to God and to their own inner struggles at work within them.  The desert became a place to enter into