Christine Valters Paintner's Blog, page 111

Earth Monastery Project ~ Litany for the Wayside

I am pleased to share another beautiful project created with the Earth Monastery Grant. Read on for Philip Wood's Litany for the Wayside. 

Phil Wood, Epping Forest, Essex

Description

Litany for the Wayside is a liturgical and poetic sequence with visual and musical responses.  It is rooted in a shared practice of attentive walking.  The primary vehicle of the Litany is journeying and the main location is the road, but elements of the sequence (poems, prayers, reflection, art and music) may stand alone or combine with others, whether in recital, protest, performance, exhibition or lament.

The Journey So Far

This Litany for the Wayside has developed around a call and response pattern.  I have been working on poems, prose-poems, nature writing and liturgy for around a year now, drawing on existing material from Walking Church.  I have also approached visual artists who have offered responses to my writing and have sometimes walked with me. Altogether, I planned eight walks, though I incorporated an earlier Richmond

'Herbalist, Edwina Hodkinson on Spice Path walk', Springwater Park, Bury

‘Walking Church’ walk and later added a tenth in St. Bees where we scattered my mum’s ashes.  In no particular order:

Springwater Park, Bury
Ramsbottom and Edenfield
The Spinney, Elton, Bury
Heaton Park, Bury/Manchester
Nine Pins, Leek
The Roaches to Buxton, Leek
The Ness of Brodgar, Orkney
Bees, Cumbria
Richmond, London
Grimston’s Oak, Epping Forest, London

Presently, I have three artistic collaborators:

Artist, Julie Foley
Architect and Illustrator, Ian Pentney
Film-maker, Nas Malik

Julie and I walked Springwater Park together in April 2016. The Springwater Park site is reclaimed land, having been a municipal refuse dump, heavily contaminated with waste from a local dye works. From the Park it is possible to see the source of the Irwell river in the distance, threaded between a complex horizon of hills.  It is a place where water is evident, both as a natural and a post-industrial presence.

I have so far written two poems and a liturgy which were inspired by the Springwater Park walks.  Julie Foley took the following poem as inspiration for her painting, 'The Sludge Beds from the Bleach Works in Springwater Park':

Julie Foley, 'The Sludge Beds from the Bleach Works in Springwater Park'

Springwater Park

On the close walk is something happening

not the news or P.M.Q.’s –

like a murmuring

between the stoop and Yarrow,

arousing wild memory

of a young river; a Roman road,

through the wide hills.  There are pools

in a mosaic, elliptical,

that learned the language

of birds and lines smoothed

under a wind-worked charm

of the forgiving grass, sinuously curving

while an army is marching nowhere.

I also did a second solo Bury walk in Elton, where I grew up.  Just off Dow Lane, a cobbled back-route between Elton and Walshaw, there is a remnant of the farmland that once existed between Bury and Tottington.  My uncle, a talented amateur artist, made sketches of green space and views of Holcombe Hill that I remember, but have now been lost to residential development. I have no idea of its proper name but we called it the Spinney. Generations of intrepid children, including myself, risked life and limb in search of newts and Sticklebacks.  When the housing estate was built the Spinney was destroyed, no doubt in a well-intentioned though risk averse attempt to tidy up the place.  This is an excerpt from the long poem, Spinney:

The Spinney, Elton, Bury

Fragments

A child dreams in the man:

Deep-drowned footings,

Ink-shadowed walls,

Oil slipping over stone.

Gone now!  The sodden wise earth,

Bestows her tenancies,

On whom she will.

The Flooded Cellar

Never again the pantry chatter,

Or Pond Skaters’ patter

On a smothered hearth.

The boy dreams, now the man,

Of Sticklebacks, unseen.

Those deepening, dark pools.

Both Spinney and Springwater Park touch on a theme that crops up many times in the Litany, the idea of natural and human succession, a dance of vulnerability and restoration.  Even against the backdrop of the ecological crisis there is a note of hope – a renewal of tenure, the unintended fertility of sludge beds that can learn the language of birds or the linearity of empire softened under the forgiveness of grass.

Tramway, Heaton Park, Bury & Manchester

Looking Ahead

The remainder of the Litany is currently under wraps and copyright but related themes – inefficiency, backwaters, nature mysticism, land rights, resistance and contemplation, etc – come together in the work.  As it stands we offered a taster of the Litany at the launch of our new quarterly poetry recitals, ‘Poetry by the Park’, at the Studio on the 9th May, 2016.

We will unveil much more of the Litany at the Stuidio on the 24th September, 2016.  That event will take the form of a reflective walk around Heaton Park, accompanied by liturgy, poems and visual art.  We intend to mark the place (which runs through the park) where pro-Brexit Bury meets pro-Remain Manchester.  Nas Malik is planning a photo mosaic which involves our walkers using their mobile phone cameras, before editing to form a mosaic. After the 24th we intend to take the Litany on the road beginning with London in November, where we will be joined by Axel Büker and a group of German Social Workers researching ‘Fresh Expressions of Church’.  It is a reminder to us that the focal point of the Litany isn’t art or even poetry, but walking.

 

 

 

 

Here are some more images taken from the walks.

Dead Thrushes, Springwater Park, Bury

Wayward Tree, Springwater Park, Bury

St Ann's Well, Buxton

'Which way now', Ramsbottom

'Writing the Litany in a Prestwich coffee shop', Bury

Rachel Mann, Veronica Zundel and Phil Wood at 'Poetry by the Park', the Studio, Prestwich, Bury

Earth Monastery Project ~ The Girl with a Gift

I am pleased to share another one of the beautiful projects created with the Earth Monastery Grant. Read on to learn about Monica McDowell, MDiv's The Girl with a Gift “Mustard Seed” Project.

The Girl with a Gift project was a creative and contemplative project used as “mustard seed” to multiply “earth as our monastery” awareness. The creative aspect of my project was my book, The Girl with a Gift, an eco-fiction, coming-of-age novel appropriate for ages 13 and up. It features climate change, spirituality, and earth care as background and foreground in the plot. The contemplative aspect of my project was the book discussion questions at the end of the book that groups read and discussed. The “mustard seed” aspect was offering my books to church/spirituality groups to read the book, discuss the questions at the end of the book, come up with their own earth projects as inspired by the book, and to share their projects with their larger communities.

The grant was used to purchase seventy copies of The Girl with a Gift which was distributed, read, and discussed at multiple churches and book clubs. After the discussions books were passed along to individuals and libraries.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal (SAE)

SAE distributed the books to three groups in their church: Women’s Friendship Circle, Sacred Grounds, and Creation Keepers, as well as to staff. They planted a plum tree to provide additional fruit for their food ministry and burgeoning organic gardens on site.

St. Paul United Church of Christ (SPUCC)

SPUCC has a Book Bunch that chose TGWAG as their selection for February and they discussed the book with me over Skype on March 22nd.  As their Earth Care Project, members pledged to:

Remember to use recyclable or cloth shopping bags, instead of plastic and invite others to do the same.
On a short term and to increase public awareness: On Earth Day/Earth Week, in April, we will request St Paul to publish on the church marquee, these words of the Vietnamese Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh: “Real Change will only happen when we fall in love with the earth”.
On a longer term and to invite St Paul to join us in this concern: we will request our church to publish one action item to care for the earth, every Sunday in the worship bulletin for 50 Sundays.
One time: One day this summer, one of our members will invite Book Bunch and others to get out and clean up a “road”.
Long term: Book Bunch will adopt a road as a “Book Bunch Road” to care for. We will invite others to join us.
Very long term, in participation with a church-wide dream: we will join in this dream to convert one of the church parking lots that is seldom used into “raised-vegetable garden to provide fresh produce for Martha’s Kitchen-Mary’s Heart and local food pantries”.                                                                                  

Others who read the book but who couldn’t attend the discussion also added suggestions such as stop using Styrofoam, and bring in Fair Trade to church.

Book club of St. Matthews Teachers/Retired Teachers (SMBC):

The SMBC members created an Earth Care Project in honor of Mary, one of their members who had recently died. They beautified the earth by donating a St. Francis statue that holds birdseed to her private garden and planted flowers around it. They memorialized this earth project with a ceremony and ritual, which was written about by another of their members here.

Salon Cerchio Book Club (SCBC):

The Salon Cerchio Book Club put up a bird feeder (pine cones with peanut butter and seeds) outside their offices. Next week they will be planting a tree in Lincoln Park in Seattle, WA.

What I learned:

This project was both meaningful and fun for me. I was able to publish TGWAG, writing group discussion questions for it with “Earth as Monastery” in mind. Participating in the book discussion with three of the groups was fascinating. This being my first fiction, I had no idea what to expect as to readers’ interactions. The questions at the end of the book that I provided and the questions they came up with themselves provided very stimulating discussions on earth care and spirituality.

What was most meaningful for me were the earth actions that the groups took and are taking, the commitments they made, and seeing how intentional they were about caring for the earth. The book and the group aspect created a nexus whereby they could come up with ideas and have the group support and accountability to do more.

Monk in the World Guest Post: Dianne Morris Jones

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Dianne Morris Jones' reflection titled “They Ruined Our Trail. . . .”

There are so many things fundamentally wrong with that statement!  However, it WAS the statement traipsing through our minds as Roger and I recently slipped and slid our way through the muddy “new” terrain of a favorite hiking trail.

We’ve hiked this trail often—through the icy cold of winter, watching the deer explore the frozen pond; through the budding beauty of spring, listening to the symphony of birds; through the heat of summer, consistently amazed at the green and the growth; and of course, through the changing lens of fall, absorbing the palette of fall colors as they unfold.

Yes, the trail WAS perfect—wide enough for the two of us to walk alongside each other and have Sterling, our silver lab, frolicking along just ahead of us. One of her favorite games was to run up ahead, just far enough to get out of sight . . . then turn and wait patiently for us. As soon as she spotted us she’d rush back to us, and then she was off again to repeat her game. Sterling always out-hikes—no, out-runs—us twice the distance!

But on this particular Saturday, we found the trail in ruins—or at least that’s how it looked to us. A bulldozer had chewed up our cherished path, tearing down adjacent trees and shrubs and doubling the width of the trail. Deep ruts marred the path, and as the snow had only recently melted, we found ourselves looking at a wide expanse of deep, sloshy brown mud. We were not prepared for this. Any of it! How could they ruin our trail?!

Let’s pause right there. What is it that made that trail ours? Of course, it didn’t actually belong to us. The trail is public property, a section of Maffitt Reservoir Park. If anything made it “ours,” it’s the memories we created there: the times we’ve enjoyed a hike with others, the hundreds of photographs we’ve shot, the thousands of steps we’ve taken—whether with hiking boots, running shoes, or snow shoes. The conversations this trail has witnessed are deep and rich—it’s there we’ve asked each other difficult questions, and listened for the answers. It’s there we’ve held space for silence as we walked along, sometimes hand in hand, sometimes one in front of the other. Roger and I are intentional about times of solitude amidst our full schedules of career, family, and travel, and it’s on this trail that we experience solitude together. We worship the Almighty along this trail—it is so natural to worship in His Sanctuary of the seasons, the trees, the geese, the flowers, the snowflakes, the sunsets, the water.

It’s all of this—the memories, the conversations, the shared solitude, the spontaneous worship that arises from being in creation—that creates the illusion of the trail being “ours.” I’m certain I’m not the only one who feels this way. One day we encountered a fellow snow-shoer who told us he’d walked the trail daily for 10 years. “I used to run it,” he proclaimed with pride. “Now I’m slower, but I’m here every day.” Surely the trail belonged to him as much as it belonged to us. Surely it belonged to all of us. . . .

Back on the day we discovered it in ruins, Roger and I looked at the trail in dismay. “Why are they ruining it?” I couldn’t help but cry out. “It was perfect the way it was!”  “Must be some sort of maintenance project,” Roger said as we began to stumble along the uneven path. The cuts in the earth were fresh, the “maintenance project” in its earliest, messiest stages. We clambered over felled trees and made our way around piles of brush, and tried to avoid the deepest ruts.

Early that morning I had read a reflection by Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest, and suddenly a line came back to me: “New beginnings invariably come from old false things that are allowed to die.”

All I’d seen on the trail was the dying: the place I’d known and cherished for so long was gone, and I was already grieving its loss. But there was another chapter to this story: with this “death” something entirely new would come to life. What would it be?  What was the master plan here? We’d only know in time.

The same holds true for life, doesn’t it? New beginnings arrive when old things are allowed to die.

Is this process happening anywhere in your life right now? What changes are you experiencing that signal a new beginning? What are the old things that might need to die so new life will have room to grow?

Just as in the trail project, we may have little idea of the master plan—and the “not knowing” can sometimes be as difficult as the grief that accompanies loss.

And what about the many interrupted paths that are bound to occur at some point or another? What if we’re on a path with little clue where it goes or even how we got there? Such trails come in myriad forms. Aging parents. Uncertainty regarding upcoming elections. The loss of a relationship. The fear of what comes next. Health struggles—our own or a loved one’s. A decision regarding education or career. A pregnancy—planned or unexpected. The difficult conversation that needs to happen. The mounting credit card bill.

Can we be still and hold the known with the unknown? Can we cultivate greater patience with not knowing?

“New beginnings invariably come from old false things that are allowed to die.”

Ask yourself what you need to let go of, what can be allowed to die. Whatever you’re going through, on whatever trail you find yourself, how can this experience be a moment of new beginnings? In the very midst of the mud, can you look for the signs of new life, just waiting to be born?"

Dianne Morris Jones is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator and Consultant (CDWF-C), a Certified Laughter Yoga Instructor, and is the author of STOP BREATHE BELIEVE:  Mindful Living One Thought At A Time and I’m Fine, a real feelings journal.  Dianne practices at Family Legacy Counseling in Des Moines, Iowa. www.diannemorrisjones.com

Canine Horarium: Praying the Hours with My Dog ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims,

During July we are sharing some reflections from the Abbey Archives (and in August we will be taking a break from our daily and weekly newsletters for a summer sabbatical):

As a Benedictine oblate, I am committed to living as a monk in the world. For me, this means living contemplatively, savoring experience rather than rushing through it to the next thing, focusing on simplicity rather than consumption, and cultivating spaciousness rather than filling my days with endless activities.

The natural world is my monk's cell, the place where I go to receive wisdom and guidance. My dogs have always been key sources of wisdom in my daily life; they have served as my spiritual directors inviting me into a much greater wisdom. The last dog who companioned us before our move to Europe was Winter. Her story was heartbreaking: She was abandoned on a farm and left to freeze to death. She survived but her puppies didn't. Welcoming her into our lives brought us profound and unexpected gifts.

Something about the rhythms of a dog are grounding for me, especially as someone who is self-employed and often works several hours of the day at home. In monastic tradition, praying the Hours is a fundamental part of moving through the day with presence and awareness. I offer you here the Horarium Winter leads me through.

Vigils: Night –The Hour of Sleeping, Dreaming, and Cherishing

My husband and I are asleep in our bed, Winter curled up in her own bed in the corner. Occasionally I awaken to remember a fragment of a dream and write it down. Sometimes in the dark quiet I hear Winter's legs twitching or muffled barking. I wonder if she is dreaming of chasing squirrels. Or I hear her and my husband breathing deeply and I cherish the presence of these two precious ones in my life.

Lauds: Dawn—The Hour of Awakening

I am not a morning person. This is the hour when I sometimes wish I could sleep in, but Winter will have none of that. She is ready to go out first thing and as the sun rises earlier and earlier in the summer months she calls me out of bed earlier as well. Some mornings I am gifted with a glimpse of the full moon setting or the glorious swathe of pink across the sky. In these moments I even find myself grateful to awaken with the dawn. I prepare my heart to receive the day ahead.

Terce: Morning—The Hour of Stretching

We return from our morning walk to a time of prayer, centering, and movement. This is my time to sink into myself and be present to the spirit moving through stillness. I have a regular morning practice of yoga, dance, and journaling to open up space within my body and soul and root myself in my Source before I move into the work of the day. Winter is a quiet witness to this practice. She lies on the couch holding the space with her presence.

Sext: Noon—The Hour of Recommitment

If I have a day of writing ahead, I usually begin around 9 or 10. Winter settles into the chair next to my desk and sleeps as I dive deep into the blank page before me, listening for the way the words want to unfurl before me. Midday calls me to recommit to this work, to eat and nourish myself for the rest of the day, and to give thanks for being able to offer my gifts in meaningful ways.

None: Midafternoon—The Hour of Play

I can get lost in hours of writing, forgetting to eat or move. Wise Winter begins to get restless in mid afternoon. She begins to paw at me, inviting me to walk and play. We take our long daily stroll up to a nearby park where she runs exuberantly and plays with other dogs who have similarly called their owners out into the world. Each time I find my heart broken wide open by her delight. Winter then demonstrates "rolling in the grass meditation" with no forethought to getting muddy or wet. Sometimes I follow suit and am rewarded by a deep sense of being re-energized by the earth.

Vespers: Evening—The Hour of Storytelling

As evening arrives and my husband returns home from his workday, we often go to the video store together to seek out stories to nourish us as the day moves toward its close. Winter is welcome into the shop and given dog cookies each time. We all return home and snuggle together on the couch and reconnect as a family and as a pack.

Compline: Night—The Hour of Mystery

As dark descends once again we are called back into releasing our hold on the day and what we had hoped to get done. Night invites us to embrace mystery. Winter goes out one last time before bed and we all curl up in our respective beds, welcoming in the world of dreams.

Those of you who have been following the Abbey since the time we lived in Seattle with Winter as our companion will be glad to know she continues to thrive in a wonderful home where she has been much loved and is able to romp and play all day with other dogs, which is one of her great joys.

If you must abide by an external schedule, consider taking a day or two of retreat when your only goal is to listen for when you need to sleep, eat, walk, and simply be. Consider bringing along a wise animal companion and let her or him be your spiritual director for these days. What happens when you submit to instinctual wisdom?

My favorite way to go on retreat is to rent a small cottage by the sea and bring my dog as my guide, along with some food to prepare simple meals when I get hungry. No meal schedules or anywhere to be at any particular time. I can just be present to the Hours as they unfold before me. Other necessities are my art supplies and journal for expression, and my yoga mat for meditation. What essentials do you need for a time of retreat?

With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Photo © Christine Valters Paintner

Earth Monastery Project ~ Sandi Howell

I am pleased to share another beautiful project created with the Earth Monastery Grant. Read on for Sandi Howell's art project, Intersections – Co-creation, Co-habitation.

“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” ~ Albert Einstein

Background – Project Goal and Objectives

The goal of this project was to raise awareness in a viewer/reader of the intersection of humans and nature, and about a potential of collaboration versus dominance.  As the artist, I wanted to create a moment by using visual art and stories to have viewers/readers come to a place of lament and subsequently to new ways of seeing nature’s place amongst us.   It was intended to open people up to thoughts of a place of balance and harmony, a place of cohabitation between humans and nature.  I see this peaceful coexistence as a place for the care of the soul.  In this way, earth is monastery.

The process of engagement was triggered by a visual – in this case photographs and the availability of the story behind the photograph.  It was meant to trigger thinking which was prompted also by open-ended questions.  In turn, individuals were invited to comment or add to the dialogue in some way.    It is an intersection and co-creation between the artist and viewer – a play within the play.

There is an energy in the process which creates momentum, resulting in a living document.  It is living in that as the photographs, stories and questions are made available internationally, more stories arrive and the collection grows.  For example, the project was tweeted out and I received a reply on it from England.  The reply said that the writer had gone to someone’s front door and there was a sign posted on the mailbox which said, “Do not open the mailbox or disturb it in any way as a bird has nested inside and is sitting on its eggs.”

Launch Point – Crescent Fort Rouge United Church (CFRUC) – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

The main launch point for this project was at a large, core, downtown mainstream church and by extension with the larger community it serves.  The Intersection topic was the theme of CFRUC’s five-week Artfest 2016.  This actually turned into an eleven-week festival!

Intersections – Co-creation, Co-habitation, contributed to the overall outcomes of what the church, and the artist, were trying to achieve.  It had a significant presence in the art show itself and attracted a lot of attention.  The photographs and stories were intensely studied by many. 

What Was Learned?

Several key things were learned.  First was that there was much less of a lament than I had anticipated.  There was actually great joy about nature and co-existence.  In fact, the extent of deliberate and mindful co-habitation within the city was simply astonishing.

I feel in some way going forward that this reverence needs to be celebrated and communicated.  It feels like a foundation which can be built upon to create larger impacts to the well-being of the planet overall.

Second, for certain, there is a general feeling that nature in many ways is nourishing and fills the soul.  This feeling is held by people I would not have previously identified as nature enthusiasts.  They are not travelling out of the city to experience nature in depth.  Rather, they enjoy it daily around them in a myriad of ways, often deliberately reaching for and creating experiences.

Third is that it is easy to create moments of awe about nature both through visuals and also writing.  The audience is and will be readily at hand.

Fourth is that creating momentum around this topic is achievable.  Thus, going forward, through deliberate advertisement about the availability of the visuals and the stories, continued activity is predicted.

What’s Next?

The original photographs, stories and questions for reflection will be subsequently offered to churches for use with study groups, Sunday schools, youth groups, daycares or to schools.  It can also be used within the common lectionary during the season of creation, utilizing some of the present day alternate meanings to ‘Creation Time’.

In September at the first fall presbytery meeting of the United Church, the results of this project will be offered to the church broadly at no cost.

The results of this project are posted on the artist’s website as an additional page for others to access easily.  www.sandihowell.com  This will be added to on an ongoing basis.  What is posted now feels like the beginning of a fairly organic collection.

 

Earth Monastery Project ~ Salal + Cedar Curriculum Boxes

I am pleased to share one of the beautiful projects created with the Earth Monastery Grant. Read on to learn how Salal + Cedar piloted a program to bring scripture and the elements of the natural word to nurture children's sense of wonder in God's creation.

What did they do?

Salal + Cedar Watershed Discipleship Ministry used their Earth Monastery grant to produce and pilot three curriculum boxes—portable, self-contained lesson material–for multi-age groups. The project was designed to bring together scripture and elements of the natural world from the lower Fraser watershed to nurture children’s sense of wonder in God’s creation. The pedagogy draws from three quite different sources Messy Church, Godly Play, and Forest Schools. The format for each lesson includes a scripturally based story and actions lead by an adult, a series of open-ended wonder questions and several hands-on learning and explorations stations. The three boxes explore:

Water
All the Birds of the Air
Trees of Field and Forest

Most of the work was undertaken by Salal + Cedar’s priest in charge, Laurel Dykstra (LD)and community member Cameron Gutjahr (CG).

Who was served?

Between Jan 1 and June 30, approximately 60 children at different 5 churches in Lower Mainland British Columbia took part in a biblically-based environmental learning experience using the curriculum boxes. Five adults contributed to and practiced with the written and hands-on materials and are able to deliver the curriculum in various settings.

They now have 3 curriculum boxes that are available for use when Salal + Cedar visits different churches on Sunday Mornings, for Messy Church programs, and when they help to animate retreats, church picnics and other events.

The print material is available for free download from the Salal + Cedar website.

Samples of the work:

Water

“This is the water of creation, the dangerous water of the flood, the water the people through into freedom, the water Jesus was baptized in, the water you were or will be baptized in, and so much more.”

Water is all around us, in our bodies, in plants, animals, rivers, lakes, oceans, underground and even in the air. Water moves, it flows in streams, rivers, oceans. Water evaporates (lift hand) becomes clouds, falls back to earth as rain (make a circle with your arm indicating water cycle).

Sample Wonder questions:

I wonder what it means to be thirsty for God?
I wonder what you use water for?
I wonder how we can take care of water?
I wonder what people who don’t have clean water do?

All the Birds of the Air

A long, long, long time ago the prophet Ezekiel told a story. Ezekiel said this is what God’s people are like:

I will go to the lofty top of a cedar tree

And take a tender young twig from the very top

I will plan that twig high on a mountain

And it will grow tall, and sprout branches and become a giant cedar tree

And every kind of bird will come and live in it

And all the winged creatures will build their nests in the shade of its branches.

Sample Wonder Questions:

I wonder what kind of birds you know?
What kind of bird would you be?
I wonder how the birds felt when they found a safe place for their nests?

Trees

Did you know there are trees at the beginning and middle, and the end of the bible?

In the very beginning of creation God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trres of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the in it.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.

Sample Wonder Questions:

I wonder if you the names of some trees that grow in the forest?
I wonder what kinds of plants are used for medicine?
I wonder how a seed feels when it goes into the dark, dark, earth to grow a tree? Is is scared? Excited?
I wonder if there is a tree that you love best?

What did they learn/next steps?

The materials as written proved very popular with the different host communities. Greatest success was with a Salal + Cedar member taking the key leadership/storyteller role and hosts supporting. For facilitators who have thought about faith and the environment the materials were easy to follow and adapt. For those new to the ideas or uncomfortable with adlib some more detail could help.

In the future they will refine the instructions so that the material is more universally accessible and expect to create more boxes as their ministry grows.

Click here to visit their ministry site and download the printed material>>

Continuing Education Program and 2017 Ireland Pilgrimages | *Updates*

Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts

November 13-18, 2016 with Kayce Stevens Hughlett, MA & Betsey Beckman MM in the Pacific Northwest

Space has opened up in this program. Click here for more details>>

May 2-7, 2017 with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD & Betsey Beckman, MM in Perth Scotland

This program is starting to fill already! Click here for more details>>

This five-day intensive immerses you in an experience of the bringing the transformative power of the expressive arts to spiritual settings. Join a small group of kindred souls to dive deep together in exploration and discovery and come away with new skills for your soul care practice.

 

We are delighted that our pilgrimages to Ireland for 2017 are filling up and so want to give you an update:

Monk in the World: Pilgrimage to the Sacred Edge of Ireland

August 29-September 6, 2016 – ONE SPACE LEFT

Details and registration here>>

Soul's Slow Ripening: Celtic Wisdom for Discernment

March 28-April 5, 2016 | September 19-27, 2016

Just a few spaces left!

Details and registration here>>

Writing on the Wild Edges: A Creative Pilgrimage & Retreat in Ireland

April 21-27, 2016 | October 5-11, 2017

Just a few spaces left!

Details and registration here>>

Listen to our Pilgrimage Preview Call:

http://abbeyofthearts.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ARCHIVE-Pilgrimage-Preview-Call-EDITED.mp3

Or email us with any questions!

Visual Meditation:

A little video I made with some images of places you will be visiting (and song by Noriana Kennedy, a Galway musician):

Monk in the World Guest Post: Liz Hill

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Liz Hill's reflection titled Going On Faith.

Not long ago I ran into a woman who had taken my class on storytelling just before she left on an extended overseas trip.

“You were right,” she told me. “Faith is a good airline.”

I nodded and smiled, but I’m pretty sure she could tell I had no idea what she was referring to. The next day she refreshed my memory via email. She outlined the many remarkable, transformative things that had happened to her on her overseas journey. And she reminded me that before she left, when she had told me she was “going on faith,” I had responded by saying that faith was a pretty good airline, one that had carried many people to interesting places.

I hadn’t the slightest memory of this, though I was able to find the email where I had, indeed, written it. In my role as spiritual director and soul friend, this kind of thing happens often. Certainly I am old enough to blame an aging brain for my failure to remember who said what to whom, or when. But that is not the entire excuse, nor is it the truest. I’ve come to realize that much of what I say to my soul friends doesn’t originate in my brain; that although the words may come through my lips, their source is more mysterious.

Who do I consider soul friends? Not only my spiritual directees, but anyone who is willing to be open and to be opened, who is asking important questions of their life, and who is willing to cross the thresholds that lead to (a few) answers and (usually even more) questions. In conversations with these people there is always a third party present; God, spirit, universe, instinct, the name does not matter. Because of that presence in our conversations, I have learned that I don’t need to remember every word that’s spoken. In fact I have learned that when I am able to release my own hold on the words and ideas we share, that act of stepping out of the way helps my soul friend to begin their own work of freeing, releasing, and transforming.

This has not been an easy lesson for me. I am a planner by nature. I’m a list maker, a note taker. I relish the closure of checking the box on a to-do list. When I first began training in spiritual direction I brought to the practice my usual way of being, and took great care to prepare for my sessions in what I thought were practical ways. I reviewed the notes from my last session with the person, I prepared a list of questions, I brought readings or poems to the session.

All of these preparations were helpful in some ways, but they were also based on my expectations of what could or should happen. I quickly learned that no amount of planning will redirect God from His intended destination, or send a person where they weren’t meant to go. Sometimes my preparation was useful. But more often, a space would open in the conversation that had nothing to do with any of the plans, and if only I could leave it alone and resist the temptation to fill it with my own words, something new and unexpected would flow in.

The same lesson applies when I lead writing workshops. I always lay out my classes carefully. I plan what I will say. I practice saying it, even time it with a stopwatch to be sure what I’ve planned fills the allotted time without going over. Yet in every class I lead, there comes a moment when the plan is abandoned. A student has more knowledge of the topic than I do, and her sharing opens a new way for all the students, myself included.  A student has a need so pressing that everyone knows, on instinct, that there is more to be learned by giving him our attention than listening to me prattle. Someone writes something so gorgeous and brilliant that time stops and there is nothing to do but be silent and breathe the words.

No amount of planning can engineer such moments. They can only be savored and accepted without credit to ego or mind. Sure, I want to believe my carefully crafted workshops brought these words to light. I want to believe that every time I meet with a soul friend, I know just what they need and my words of advice tumble forth like so many sparkling gems. But in truth, I generally stumble and bumble along, hoping to get something, anything, right. The moments where I am of most use to God, to myself, and to others are the ones where I can forget myself and simply become a channel, a conduit, a transceiver, rather than working so hard to find the perfect thing to say.

In other words, I have to go on faith.

Welcome aboard. Though the schedule is hard to predict, I’ve heard it’s a pretty good airline."

Liz Hill is a writer and spiritual director who has led workshops in creative process, discovering authentic voice, and un-journaling. She is co-author (with Ruthie Rosauer) of Singing Meditation: Together in Song and Silence, and co-director of a literary arts non-profit in Youngstown, Ohio. See www.lizhill.net.

 

 

Savoring Summer’s Sweet Slowness ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims,

During July we are sharing some reflections from the Abbey Archives (and in August we will be taking a break from our daily and weekly newsletters for a summer sabbatical):

"The summer night is like a perfection of thought."

—Wallace Stevens

"What is summer's sweetness / but an invitation to respond?"

—Lynn Ungar

John and I are blessed to have a lot of control over the rhythms of our year, and summer is a time when we step back from the intensity of work and allow more time for dreaming and incubation for the year to come. After working very hard the rest of the year, summer opens up like a lavish gift before us. I am finding these summer days I have been resistant even to the writing that I love so much, craving more silence and rest. So as I sit down to write this reflection I am drawn toward simplicity, fewer words, more savoring of the spaces between them.

Being a monk in the world means for me to live slowly in a fast-paced culture, to treasure the gift of "being" in a world that says my value comes from "doing," to linger over life's moments and recognize that what I seek most deeply is already here waiting to be revealed.

Summer calls me to relish the gifts of slowness, attention, and wonder. The season immerses me in the sacramental imagination—the recognition that everything is holy, everything shimmers with the sacred presence if we only slow down enough to see.

Let's celebrate summer's gifts with a list of some things that should be done s-l-o-w-l-y:

Taking a long swim in the open water, feeling the stretch of your muscles.
Eating fresh sweet berries and peaches letting the juice drip down your chin and fingers.
Cooking a meal with complete loving attention to each chop, sprinkle, and stir.
Napping in a patch of sunlight.
Hiking deep in the emerald woods.
Ordering a soft-serve cone from the ice cream truck and giggling as it melts down your hand.
Buy yourself a bouquet of peonies or sunflowers at the farmer's market.
Listening to the rhythms of the ocean until you discover your own heartbeat hidden there.
Rubbing a dog's belly.
Rolling in the grass.
Letting a piece of music wash over you and knit itself into your being until you find yourself dancing.
Listening. To a friend, a spouse, a stranger. To silence, to the holy presence.
Making love and being loved. Treasuring the sacred gift of touch.
Gazing upon a work of art or a sunset and really seeing it. Gazing upon a loved one and really seeing them.
Transformation: The long slow process of becoming who we really are.
Breathing. In. Out. In. Out.
Grieving. Experiencing the fullness of sorrow and loss.
Basking in gratitude for the simple joys of each day.
Lingering under the bone-white face of the moon as she blesses the night.
Allowing at least one moment each day when you release doing and simply are.

Consider making a list of the summer gifts you love and then letting your summer practice be to enjoy one slowly each day. What are the things worth savoring? What might happen if you slowed down enough to hear deeply the God who speaks in sheer silence? What is being whispered to you there?

May each of your journeys unfold with a thousand delightful surprises these summer days. May the sun bring you the gift of illumination. May the sweetness of summer elicit a long sigh of surrender from the deepest places of your being.

With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Photo © Christine Valters Paintner

2017 Ireland Pilgrimages | *Update*

We are delighted that our pilgrimages to Ireland for 2017 are filling up and so want to give you an update:

Monk in the World: Pilgrimage to the Sacred Edge of Ireland

August 29-September 6, 2016 – ONE SPACE LEFT

Details and registration here>>

Soul's Slow Ripening: Celtic Wisdom for Discernment

March 28-April 5, 2016 | September 19-27, 2016

Just a few spaces left!

Details and registration here>>

Writing on the Wild Edges: A Creative Pilgrimage & Retreat in Ireland

April 21-27, 2016 | October 5-11, 2017

Just a few spaces left!

Details and registration here>>

Listen to our Pilgrimage Preview Call:

http://abbeyofthearts.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ARCHIVE-Pilgrimage-Preview-Call-EDITED.mp3

Or email us with any questions!

Visual Meditation:

A little video I made with some images of places you will be visiting (and song by Noriana Kennedy, a Galway musician):