Christine Valters Paintner's Blog, page 145

Invitation to Photography: Letting Go

Welcome to this month's Abbey Photo Party!

I select a theme and invite you to respond with images.

We began this month with a Community Lectio Divina practice with our reflection on letting go from the story in the Gospel of Luke.

I invite you for this month's Photo Party to hold these words in your heart as you go out in the world to receive images in response. As you walk be ready to see what is revealed to you as a visual expression of your prayer.

You can share images you already have which illuminate the theme, but I encourage you also to go for a walk with the theme in mind and see what you discover.

You are also welcome to post photos of any other art you create inspired by the theme.  See what stirs your imagination!

How to participate:

You can post your photo either in the comment section below* (there is now an option to upload a file with your comment – your file size must be smaller than 1MB – you canresize your image for free here – choose the "small size" option and a maximum width of 500).

You can also join our Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks Facebook group and post there. Feel free to share a few words about the process of receiving this image and how it speaks of the harvest for you.

*Note: If this is your first time posting, or includes a link, your comment will need to be moderated before it appears. This is to prevent spam and should be approved within 24 hours.

New Dancing Monk Icons (a love note from your online Abbess)

Dearest monks and artists,

I am just back in Ireland now after almost three weeks traveling in the U.S. for teaching and visiting family. It was a magical time away. I led two retreats – the Sacred Rhythms Writing and Movement Retreat in Cape May, NJ where 18 amazing dancing monks joined to dive deep into the creative well together. Then came a few days of rest and renewal in Maine visiting my aunt and her husband which was a the perfect time of play and exploration. And finally came the Exploring Archetypes through Expressive Arts Retreat in Reading, PA with my dear friend and teaching partner Kayce Hughlett and another fabulous 16 dancing monks. The trip was everything I hoped for and more. I am basking in the generosity of life and the incredible beauty of this community.

Stepping into new contexts can help us to awaken to new perspectives, one of the many gifts of travel. I found myself broken open many times over the course of this trip. On the last morning of the first retreat, one of our participants asked me over breakfast: "What do you need? What does the Abbey need to thrive and flourish and expand into this next season?" Such a simple question really, and so full of love and grace. I felt this sudden rush of energy in response at receiving her question. "Admin support" was my immediate response and I could feel a physical release and softening in that moment of imagining what it would be like to let go of some of that responsibility.

I love the ways the Abbey is expanding, and admin work, which I have always done out of love and service, easily demands more than half of my time to keep up with emails, newsletters, blog posts, website updates, Facebook, registrations, finances, and much more.

My creative visionary heart keeps expanding, and over the course of my trip I received so many suggestions for rich and beautiful possibilities, other things the Abbey could offer to support its community better. So many seeds planted.

It is an incredible privilege to do this work in service of something much bigger than myself, a vision of how we can be in the world as contemplative and creative presences, bringing depth, meaning, and joy to our own lives and those we touch.

It is also an incredible privilege to support ourselves financially with this work, and we are at the point of just making ends meet with no surplus to cover illness, vacation, or retirement. So the thought of admin support often feels like an unaffordable luxury. Yet I am aware of sometimes feeling stretched a little too thin by so much to tend to and my work in the world is in part to witness to a way of being that is more at ease, less productive. And then there is the freedom I experienced in response to the question asked of me. My body never lies.

I spent much of the rest of the trip pondering this question and how to make a shift in my own work patterns, in what could be passed along to others, ways to find the resources to do this. And there were some moments of magic where some of the resources appeared as a way of encouraging me on. Sometimes we have to just step into the unknowing and feel the risk of doing something we know is in service to something bigger. I have definitely learned a thing or two over the years about the magic of stepping into my dreams.

We are opening registration for the series of online retreats being offered at the Abbey this coming season, starting with Advent/Christmas, followed byEpiphany/New Year's, then Lent, and finally a Scripture course over the Easter season (see below for more details). For the first time we are offering a series subscription. If you are able to make a time and financial commitment to the Abbey through signing up for all four online retreats, we would be deeply grateful to you. In return you receive a discount on the overall price as well as a free self-study retreat (may I suggest Honoring Saints and Ancestors, which could guide you through  November which is the month of remembrance).

This will also help us in gathering some additional resources now to be able to get the extra admin support we need for the Abbey to continue growing and thriving. We would also love to offer more resources for connecting locally, and so admin help will go a long way to make that a reality as well.

For those of you for whom participation in an online program is a financial stretch, please know we are still committed to offering you free and low-cost resources (see the section at the bottom of the newsletter) as well as some partial scholarships where we can.

My guiding word this summer was "surplus" because I came to see sustainability in this work as not quite enough to allow for full thriving and expansion in the spirit of generous hospitality and abundance we like to offer here. I am daily in awe over how the Spirit has worked through this community over the last several years, from the humble beginnings of a blog to a global community with thousands of members where so many hungry to connect with the inner monk and artist can find kindred souls.

Many more dreams longing to be birthed, this is the season of harvest in the northern hemisphere, as well as the season of releasing and stripping away.  Amma Syncletica, one of the desert mothers (pictured above in our newest dancing monk icon), offers wise reminders about always returning to what is most essential and asking what can be let go. These are not just physical items (although that can be very freeing as well) but also thoughts and beliefs that keep us confined. I am learning this wisdom in new ways this autumn and am ready to release some things to make more room for the bountiful harvest. Our community theme this month is on autumn's call to simplicity and we have a new Invitation to Lectio Divina practice posted.

What is autumn calling you to release to make room for something bigger? (And for our southern hemisphere dancing monks, what is spring calling forth from you in this season?)

This work grows through your support. We do very little advertising as word of mouth is the best way to welcome others in. Please consider sharing your love of the Abbey with others by forwarding this email or the link to our website.

At the heart of all this is God the Great Artist at work, the One who shimmers forth in silence, the presence unfolding in our midst this very moment, the Source who gathers us together in shared grief and joy.

I am only planning one teaching trip to the U.S. in 2015 for the Coming Home to the Body retreat April 17-21, 2015 (and Awakening the Creative Spirit which is full). Consider joining me in the beautiful Northwest to give yourself the gift of time away in a community of kindred souls.

With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

www.AbbeyoftheArts.com

Photo: Amma Syncletica (desert mother) dancing monk icon by artist Marcy Hall

Community Online Retreats Subscription Series (2014-2015)

Birthing the Holy: Monks, Mystics, and Archetypes (November 30, 2014-January 3, 2015)
Illuminating the Holy:  Monks, Mystics, and Archetypes (January 4-February 7, 2015)
The Soul's Slow Ripening: A Lenten Retreat on Monastic Wisdom for Discernment (February 16-April 11, 2015)
Watershed Moments in Biblical History: Exodus, Exile, Death & Resurrection (April 12-May 23, 2015)

Please consider supporting the Abbey by committing to the whole series of online retreats this coming season. We have been hard at work since late spring working on these offerings and are very excited!  The Advent/Christmas and Epiphany/ New Year retreats focus on one of the figures from the dancing monk icon series each week as source of wisdom and as archetype for our inner journey. Included will be reflections from Christine and John Valters Paintner on the theme, we have songs created just for each week by some of our favorite Abbey musicians (including Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, and David and Laura Ash), Betsey Beckman will be inviting you into gesture prayers with these songs, Kayce Hughlett will be offering invitations to the process of SoulCollage, and Tonja Reichley will be approaching our archetypes through the gifts of herbalism.

The total cost for all four retreats if registering separately would be $640, but if you register for the series the cost is $575, a $65 savings overall and you can also choose one of our self-study retreats as a free gift (any from this page except for Women on the Threshold).

Registration is also available for any of the individual online retreats.

Stop by the Advent online retreat to read more and register>>

All 12 Dancing Monk Icons now available as prints! (order by October 31st for Christmas)

I am so delighted to announce that Marcy Hall of Rabbit Room Arts has made all 12 of the dancing monk icons available to order as prints. The prints are 5.5 x 10 inches and the mat is 11×14.

The dancing monk series includes: Benedict of Nursia, Hildegard of Bingen, Brigid of Kildare, Brendan the Navigator, Francis of Assisi, Mary, King David, Prophet Miriam, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Amma Syncletica.

Discounts on multiple prints and part of the proceeds goes to support the Earth Monastery Project.

If you place your order by October 31, 2014, the prints will be made up in November and shipped out before U.S. Thanksgiving in November for delivery by Christmas.

Please be patient after placing your order. Marcy works with a local printer she knows so the process takes time to make sure the prints are looking beautiful for you.

To find out more and see all of the prints click here>>

Monk in the World guest post: Trent Tanaro

This week in our Monk in the World guest post series we have a reflection from fellow monk Trent Tanaro. Read on for his wisdom about the movements of his monastic journey:

It is an honor to share the journey with you in this guest post. We are all on a journey of some sort.  Our paths are very diverse in nature; no path is identical to the other, yet we share experiences in so many ways. The ability to share our experiences with others regardless of our ‘type’ of path is a blessing. When we learn to look at the paths of others with love and appreciation, we grow closer as a society. Sharing the journey is essential to life and its many seasons.

The expression of my particular journey is one of many movements. These movements have occurred over the expanse of many years. They are made up of many twists and turns, ups and downs, which have shaped me into who I am today.  I have learned how to process these many movements over the years. There are some various practices that have been tools for me in the midst of the journey.  Some of them I have weeded out and some I have tended to and watched them flourish into my daily life.

I would like to share a few of them with you in this moment of sharing the journey. These have taken years to develop and have been tried through failure, beginning again, success, joy, sadness, grief, life, death, darkness, light, and many other rhythms of life. These three have stood the test of time and fire. They have proved to be a fabric of my being on a daily basis. The strength that comes from Christ through these daily practices is what has carried me through the seasons.

Silence

 “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.”  (Psalm 62:1, NRSV)

 The thought of silence used to create great amounts of fear within me. I struggled with anxiety and depression in my early adult years. The thought of being in silence and alone was horror to me. I began to practice moments of silence in my day when I finally faced the fear and overcame it.  It took facing the fear repeatedly at night, that seemed to be when I had no choice but to face it, that I began to see its value.  God began to show up or is it that I began to actually listen instead of begging God to take it away? Silence became the very thing that I needed in order to move forward from the inner struggles. The very thing that I begged for peace from became one of the life sources for my walk with God.

Silence is now a part of my life and my daily routine. Silence is nothing to be afraid of, walk into it and you will see.  It is still difficult to explain, it is almost as if my fear of silence was triggering my inner problems. The inner struggles want a way out; they often find their way out by other means. Sometimes they are expressed in negative ways toward ourselves and those we care about. Silence is a healthy path for our personal struggles to travel through. God comes in when we allow him to work and fills the void with his relentless love and mercy.

Sacred Reading

As I have traveled through the rugged terrain of life here on earth, another valuable practice for my journey has been sacred reading. The reading of scripture is at the top of this one. The value and nutrition that comes from my daily readings of Psalms and the Gospels is unexplainable. I read continuously through much of the Jewish Bible and the Christian Bible (Old and New Testaments). The strength that comes from my times in silence will often flow over into my sacred reading time.  The texts that I read will take me into silent reflection and meditation from time to time. It varies from day to day; sometimes it is dry, empty, frustrating, or meaningless to me. The periods of desolation are often self inflicted or portrayed from the way I have allowed myself to be impacted by the actions of others. That is why the re-centering time in silence is so important. We all need to be re-centered; life just throws us off track once in a while.

I will also spend great amounts of time reading various other sacred texts from the patristic era of Christian history. The Monastics and the Saints tend to be my frequently visited authors. I find peace and connection to many of them, I know, it is hard to describe, but the connection is there. They expressively describe their lives as they lived through the fires of history. They also have spent much time in the scriptures and you can see that clearly in many of their writings. I find my self in their writings versus many of the modern evangelical texts of today. While I read a broad genre in today’s world of literature, I retreat to scripture and patristic writings often.

Solitude

“In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.”  (Mark 1:35, NRSV)

The practice of solitude is often confused with silence. While both have similarities, they are different in nature. Most places of solitude are indeed silent places. Silence often happens in solitude moments. Solitude is time spent alone with you and God.  God is there, whether we know it or not, he is there. It mostly involves the absence of others. Silence can be a state of mind in the midst of chaos. Solitude is a more secluded practice in nature. While my life consists of many people through most of the day, solitude is a practice that I try to participate in often. Life is people; life is made up of our journeys with others. People are a part of the meaning of our lives. A healthy balance in life involves the practice of breaking away for time with yourself and God. When it is time to return to the social scene, you will be better prepared for the circumstances ahead. Solitude is not for everyone, but it is a healthy practice for daily life.

My prayer today is that my journey with these three practices has encouraged you in some way. We are all on diverse paths in our lives and we need one another. Sharing the journey is vital to the good and growth of any society of people. When people come together in the purpose of sharing, the negatives and differences are often set aside. May God bless all of you as you travel your paths with passion and expression in the day ahead.  I am very thankful and it has been an honor to share a part of my journey with you.

Trent Tanaro is from Spearman, TX where he is a Pastor. Trent and his wife Marlana have been married for 15 years. They have two boys; Timothy (11) and Tyler (7).  He have been in rural church ministry for 12 + years. They love God and their community.

Click here to read all the guest posts in the Monk in the World series>>

All 12 Dancing Monk Icons now available as prints!

I am so delighted to announce that Marcy Hall of Rabbit Room Arts has made all 12 of the dancing monk icons available to order as prints. The prints are 5.5 x 10 inches and the mat is 11×14.

The dancing monk series includes: Benedict of Nursia, Hildegard of Bingen, Brigid of Kildare, Brendan the Navigator, Francis of Assisi, Mary, King David, Prophet Miriam, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Amma Syncletica.

Discounts on multiple prints and part of the proceeds goes to support the Earth Monastery Project.

If you place your order by October 31, 2014, the prints will be made up in November and shipped out before U.S. Thanksgiving in November for delivery by Christmas.

Please be patient after placing your order. Marcy works with a local printer she knows so the process takes time to make sure the prints are looking beautiful for you.

To find out more and see all of the prints click here>>

Invitation to Community Lectio Divina: Luke 18:22-23

With October we offer a new invitation for contemplation. Our focus for this month is letting go. In the northern hemisphere it is the season of fall when nature begins to release what is not necessary. What are you called to shed in your own spiritual garden?

I invite you into a lectio divina practice with some words from the Gospel of Luke.

How Community Lectio Divina works:

Each month there will be a passage selected from scripture, poetry, or other sacred texts (and occasionallyvisio and audio divina as well with art and music).

How amazing it would be to discern together the movements of the Spirit at work in the hearts of monks around the world.

I invite you to set aside some time this week to pray with the text below. Here is a handout with a brief overview (feel free to reproduce this handout and share with others as long as you leave in the attribution at the bottom – thank you!)

Lean into silence, pray the text, listen to what shimmers, allow the images and memories to unfold, tend to the invitation, and then sit in stillness.

When Jesus heard this he said to him, 'There is still one thing left for you: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' But when he heard this he became quite sad, for he was very rich.

— Luke 18:22-23

After you have prayed with the text (and feel free to pray with it more than once – St. Ignatius wrote about the deep value of repetition in prayer, especially when something feels particularly rich) spend some time journaling what insights arise for you.

How is this text calling to your dancing monk heart in this moment of your life?

What does this text have to offer to your discernment journey of listening moment by moment to the invitation from the Holy?

What wisdom emerged that may be just for you, but may also be for the wider community?

Sharing Your Responses

Please share the fruits of your lectio divina practice in the comments below (at the bottom of the page) or at our Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks Facebook group which you can join here. There are over 2200 members and it is a wonderful place to find connection and community with others on this path.

You might share the word or phrase that shimmered, the invitation that arose from your prayer, or artwork you created in response. There is something powerful about naming your experience in community and then seeing what threads are woven between all of our responses.

Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks Facebook group here>>

*Note: If this is your first time posting, or includes a link, your comment will need to be moderated before it appears. This is to prevent spam and should be approved within 24 hours.

Monk in the World guest post: Marcia Chadly

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Marcia Chadly's wisdom on the gifts of contemplative drawing for becoming a monk in the world:

And it was Good

Contemplative drawing is one of my favorite practices as a Monk in the World.  The story of contemplative drawing in my life is a creation story.  Spending time with this practice recreated my life.   Each drawing time is also a creation story.  The blank page becomes filled with color and form that brings meaning and life.

About 10 years ago I was in the process of reconnecting to myself and rediscovering my inner voice.  After a major life transition, I was refashioning my life.  There had been a time in the darkness of unknowing and now light was starting to appear.

I noticed a weekend art retreat at a Benedictine abbey and signed up without a clue that the weekend would be a turning point for me.  Along with meeting a nun for the first time :-), I found a process that would bring forth life for me.

The retreat was an introduction to contemplative drawing with oil pastels.  Each drawing session began with a brief discussion and then a meditation to transition out of linear thinking into art making contemplation.  There was incense to let our noses know it was time to make art, music to let our ears know it was time to make art, the feel of the paper to let our bodies know it was time to make art, and the sight of the colors to let our eyes know it was time to make art.  What a wonderful release into the blank, empty page – with reassurance from the instructor that we already knew what to draw without plan or thought or worry.

The empty page is an opening for creation.  Planning or thinking limits what will appear. Because there is no way to be detailed and picky with the oil pastels, there is a freedom.  This is playtime; smear the colors around and get your fingers dirty play.  Drawing is all about the experience of watching the colors transform on the paper.  A time to see that colors change depending on what other colors are around.  This is an experience of layering color on top of color to bring results that are influenced by all the layers.   The final picture is enjoyed as much for the process of expression that created it as the final image.

The time spent in contemplation, the process of the drawing, and the drawing created are all paths to my inner voice.  Exactly what I was intentionally seeking!  Little by little I connected to my inner wisdom and to myself.

That first retreat led to others and to contemplative drawing on my own.  At first my oil pastel playtime was a much-needed break and time to clear my mind from daily living.  Soon I began to see parallels between the two.  The experiences of my life are layered on top of each other, being influenced by the layers underneath.  I started noticing when the trap of valuing the end result rather than the journey caught me.  I understood that the more I could "play" with life, letting go of expectations and trying things with the knowledge that mistakes were wonderful and led to new things, the more I was free to live and enjoy life.   Beyond the self-connection I was seeking, this practice opened me up to a new way of being in the world.  I was being recreated as a Monk in the World.   And I saw that it was good.

Marcia Chadly is a lover of color, creativity, and community; she appreciates the sacred space found in all of them.  Marcia values self-knowledge, growth, and renewal as key to living the life calling you and as a stepping stone to being in community with and in service to others.  She lives that value as Director of the Creative Life Center in the Denver Metro area of Colorado.  The Creative Life Center offers a variety of classes and events to support you from where you are to where you want to grow.  Visit www.CreativeLifeCenter.org to learn more.

Click here to read all the guest posts in the Monk in the World series>>

Invitation to Dance: Harvesting the Inner Garden

We continue our theme this month of "Harvesting the Inner Garden" which arose from our Community Lectio Divina practice with the parable from the Gospel of Mark and continued with this month's Photo Party and Poetry Party.

I invite you into a movement practice.  Allow yourself just 5 minutes this day to pause and listen and savor what arises.

Begin with a full minute of slow and deep breathing.  Let your breath bring your awareness down into your body.  When thoughts come up, just let them go and return to your breath. Hold this image of "Harvesting the Inner Garden" as the gentlest of intentions, planting a seed as you prepare to step into the dance.
Play the piece of music below ("Seven Seas" by Lisa Gerrard – Please visit her site and enter your email to get the song for free.) let your body move in response, without needing to guide the movements. Listen to how your body wants to move through space in response to your breath. Remember that this is a prayer, an act of deep listening. Pause at any time and rest in stillness again.
After the music has finished, sit for another minute in silence, connecting again to your breath. Just notice your energy and any images rising up.
Is there a word or image that could express what you encountered in this time?  (You can share about your experience, or even just a single word in the comments section below or join our  Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks Facebook group  and post there.)
If you have time, spend another five minutes journaling in a free-writing form, just to give some space for what you are discovering.
To extend this practice, sit longer in the silence before and after and feel free to play the song through a second time. Often repetition brings a new depth.

*Note: If this is your first time posting, or includes a link, your comment will need to be moderated before it appears. This is to prevent spam and should be approved within 24 hours.

The Soul's Migration: Where Will You Fly? (latest Patheos column)

Fin and feather, flesh, blood and bone: the earth calls its creatures to leave the familiar, turn again into the unknown; to move steadily and continuously and at great risk toward an invisible goal, expending great energy with the possibility of failure… —Marianne Worcester

I write these words from the shores of Cape May, NJ where I am leading a retreat. Cape May is a resting place for weary souls seeking renewal and refreshment. It is also the resting place for Monarch butterflies as they make their long migratory journey to Mexico.

In Galway, Ireland, where I live, the mighty River Corrib rushes through the city with great vigor, connecting its source, Lough Corrib, with its destination, the great Atlantic Ocean. Each year the salmon here make their own migration, returning to the lake that was their birthplace, traveling from as far away as Canada.

Seattle salmon make a similar journey and the Native peoples have an annual homecoming ceremony for them. In the Skagit Valley, north of Seattle, I have stood on a midwinter's day and witnessed thousands of swans and geese landing in a field, also on their own movement toward an invisible goal. In Alaska are the pods of Humpback whales who feed off the nutrient rich waters all summer and gain sustenance, and then return to warmer seas to give birth in the winter.

Click here to continue reading>>

Monk in the World guest post: Patricia Kowal

This week in our Monk in the World guest post series we have a beautiful poem from fellow monk Patricia Kowal who lives in Spokane, WA. Read on for her wisdom:

Mystic Within

Compassion, Compass, Passion

Contained in the Mystic-Within

Connected to Love, guided with Love, directed in Love

Flowing through one to another.

The mystic—once hidden under the rubble of past hurts

Covered in costume to protect the vulnerable heart

Now guided in Pure Love and Purpose.

 The summons is clear:

Come with me.

See beyond the protective dress

Nestle close to the tender heart of Mystery.

COMPASSION, COMPASSion, comPASSION!

I am the Mystic Within.

I offer spiritual direction and embrace and support walking the spiritual path.  I am a published author of fiction and non-fiction and write poetry to offer balm to the soul. I free-lance counseling skills as a group leader for Onsite Workshops in Tennessee which fosters growth and recovery from painful life experiences and am a retired Registered Nurse.

Click here to read all the guest posts in the Monk in the World series>>

Invitation to Poetry: Harvesting the Inner Garden

Welcome to Poetry Party #79!

I select an image (the photo above is by Christine Valters Paintner) and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your own poem. Scroll down and add it in the comments section below or join our Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks Facebook group and post there.

Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog (if you have one), Facebook, or Twitter, and encourage others to come join the party!  (If you repost the photo, please make sure to include the credit link below it and link back to this post inviting others to join us).

We began this month with a  Community Lectio Divina practice with a parable from the Gospel of Mark and followed up with our Photo Party on the theme of the "harvesting the inner garden." (You are most welcome to still participate).  We continue this theme in our Poetry Party this month. What are continuing to discover about your own inner harvesting?

You can post your poem either in the comment section below*or you can join our Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks Facebook group (with more than 2200 members!) and post there.

*Note: If this is your first time posting, or includes a link, your comment will need to be moderated before it appears. This is to prevent spam and should be approved within 24 hours.