Sweet Midsummer Blessings (Abbey Sabbatical)
Watermelon You know what summer tastes like—the pink flesh of a generous earth, this rounded life fully ripe, fully flavored. How could you be ashamed at the tug of desire? The world has opened itself to you, season after season. What is summer’s sweetness but an invitation to respond? There is only one way to […]
Beginning Again: Benedictine Wisdom for Living with Chronic Illness (Summer 2011)
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 […]
New book on lectio divina coming in late May
From the Afterword: The Divine Presence is Everywhere in my newest book Lectio Divina–The Sacred Art: Transforming Words & Images Into Heart-Centered Prayer (click the link to pre-order from Amazon.com or order through your local bookseller): Always We Begin Again It is wise to hold all of these worthy goals with humility. Benedict describes his rule of life […]
Ash Wednesday: Practice Truth-Telling
Ash Wednesday marks a threshold when we leave ordinary time to enter into the journey of Lent through the desert. The desert is that uncharted terrain beyond the edges of our seemingly secure and structured world, where things begin to crack. We begin this desert journey marked with ashes, the sign of our mortality. There […]
Stirring in the Belly: Listening for New Life
My latest Seasons of the Soul column for Patheos is now available here: The most important events make no stir on their first taking place, nor indeed in their effects directly. They seem hedged about by secrecy. It is concussion, or the rushing together of air to fill a vacuum, which makes a noise. The […]
Visual Meditation: Christmas Blessings from Vienna
Christmas blessings to all friends of the Abbey – may you discover the holy being birthed within your own heart, may your life enflesh the sacred presence for others. Stop by “Give me a Word” and share the word shimmering for you for 2011 and read the moving reflections others have posted in response to […]
Visual Meditation: Winter Solstice (in Vienna)
Today in the Northern hemisphere we celebrate the Winter Solstice, that day of the great turning toward the light. Winter is my favorite season with her achingly beautiful spareness. I offer you some images from my time away below. Blessings on your own journey through holy darkness toward illumination. More photos to come later in […]