The Meaning of Manna ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, We are delighted to welcome poet and author Nikki Grimes for a poetry reading tomorrow from her new collection Glory in the Margins. For today’s love note we are sharing one of her poems below from this collection. It is a poem about what we need to be truly nourished and how so […]
Hildy Tail: The Weary Prophet (1 Kings 19:1-10)
This week we are featuring one of our Hildy Tails. This series of essays were composed last year for our Sustainers Circle. They were dictated to John by the Abbey’s mascot, Hildy the Monk-ey. Hildy is a bit of a free spirit who likes to entertain and doesn’t normally feel constrained by conventional story structure […]
The Inexpressible Delight of Love: St. Benedict of Nursia ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, Next Saturday I am delighted to be leading a retreat on one of my favorite monks and mystics, St. Benedict. This reflection is excerpted from my book Illuminating the Way: Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics: But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on […]
I Want to Be the Kind of Woman ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, I am delighted to share I have a third poetry collection being published on May 9th from Paraclete Press titled Love Holds You: Poems and Devotions for Times of Uncertainty. As part of my preparation to release this book into the world, I worked with my favorite filmmakers at Morgan Creative here […]
A Journey of Release for Lent ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, I have been in a long season of release. Ongoing health issues can bring clarity over what is most important in a given season of life. My word for the year is distillation and it is providing a compass for how I discern what to take on and what to […]
Exploring Our True Hungers ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, John Cassian, one of the early theologians in the Christian church, writes about what he calls the three renunciations. In her book Thoughts Matter, Mary Margaret Funk describes his teaching: “First, we must renounce our former way of life and move closer to our heart’s desire, toward the interior life. Second, […]
Some Updates from Your Online Abbess
Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, This past Monday our Wisdom Council gathered together online for our semi-annual time of reflection, inspiration, and planning. We are extraordinarily blessed with a group of 14 members who are heart-centered, contemplative leaders committed to helping Abbey of the Arts continue to flourish and serve this community in challenging times. We first […]