Reflections

Word for Today: Monk The root of the word “monk” is monos, which means one or single. It isn’t so much about marital status as it is about the condition of one’s heart. When I try to live as a monk, I commit to living my life with as much integrity as possible. —Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: How might you answer the monk’s call to live from a commitment to singleness of heart? Next steps: Let the word, quote, and question inspire your creative practice (Download the list of daily words

Word for Today: Presence We don’t need to travel long journeys to grow in the spiritual life. Wherever we are, we are called to stay in the monk’s cell, which means to stay present to our experience. —Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: Can you inhabit fully the uncomfortable edges of your experience without giving into the need to change it into something else, without trying to find the next thing to make you feel good? Next steps: Let the word, quote, and question inspire your creative practice (Download the list of daily words

Word for Today: Soul The monastic cell is a central concept in the spirituality of the desert elders. The outer cell is really a metaphor for the inner cell, a symbol of the deep soul work we are called to in order to become fully awake. It is the place where we come into full presence with ourselves. —Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: Can you enter your inner cell, close the door to distractions, and allow yourself to get in touch with all of your inner voices, emotions, and challenges

Word for Today: Risk We each have a threshold for uncomfortable or painful experiences….. The only way to widen our threshold of tolerance is to dance at its edges, explore uncomfortable places, and stay present. When we risk the unfamiliar, our resilience grows and we become more capable of living life. —Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: Can you be present to whatever life brings you in the moment, and avoid reaching for the things that numb you and help avoid the pain? Next steps: Let the word, quote, and

Word for Today: Shimmering [The Desert Mothers and Fathers] sought ‘hesychia’, which is the Greek word for stillness. It means more than silence or peacefulness. There is a sense in which the stillness is the deep, shimmering presence of the holy. —Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within  Reflective Question: Can you sit with the discomfort and turmoil of your inner life until a sense of equanimity and deep inner silence begins to shimmer within? Next steps: Let the word, quote, and question inspire your creative practice (Download the list of daily words here.) Use the hashtag  #soulofapilgrim when

Word for Today: Roadlessness The second-century bishop and theologian St. Irenaeus wrote that the true pilgrim was to live life in a state of ‘apavia’, a Latin word which means “roadlessness.” He called for a posture of deep trust in the leading of the Spirit, rather than human direction. In essence, he taught that the place where we don’t know where we’re going is also the place of greatest richness. —Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: What would it mean to embrace roadlessness in your own life journey? Where are the places

Word for Today: Wander ‘Peregrinatio’ is the call to wander for the love of God. It is a word without precise definition in English and means something different than pilgrimage. This wandering was an invitation into letting go of our own agendas and discovering where God was leading. —Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: Can you trust that the impulse for the journey is always love, that God is both the destination and the way?   Next steps: Let the word, quote, and question inspire your creative practice (Download the list of daily words

Word for Today: Yield We are called to yield in each moment to a greater presence at work in our lives. We must surrender our egos and our willfulness for a larger wisdom to move through us. —Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: Can you allow a holy pause and notice where you are “forcing things,” and then simply let them go?     Next steps: Let the word, quote, and question inspire your creative practice (Download the list of daily words here.) Use the hashtag  #soulofapilgrim when sharing on social media. Join the Holy Disorder of