Christine Valters Paintner's Blog, page 163

Virtual Book Tour: Guided Meditation and new Review at Patheos Book Club

The Patheos Book Club continues to feature Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice.   New today is a visual guided meditation featured on the main page of the book club.  Click here and scroll down to where it says Seeing with the Eyes of the Heart: A Guided Meditation with Images by Christine Valters Paintner and you can scroll through a series of my photos, with quotes from the book, as well as suggestions for reflection and pondering.

There is also a brand new and wonderful review by Craig Detweiler of Doc Hollywood, who is a professor of film:

Paintner points out how the language we bring to photography reflects skewed values.   In “taking” or “shooting” pictures, we create an odd distance between our selves and the eternal moments around us.   Shouldn’t we adopt an attitude of receiving a photograph as a gift?   While we still polish our technical skills in preparation, when the moment arrives, we are receiving something strange, wonderful, perplexing or beautiful.    To recognize it, to truly see what is happening, we must pause, focus, and frame, all key components of contemplative prayer.   We may want to “capture” a moment, but aren’t we better allowing the moment to capture us?

Christine Valters Paintner challenges us to slow down, to adopt a more sacred approach to life.   Eyes of the Heart is a thin book of thick ideas, meant to be savored rather than consumed.    We are invited to work through each chapter at a measured pace.   She includes practical photography assignments to graft contemplation into our daily routines.   Or perhaps more appropriately, she challenges us to allow contemplation to break or enliven our routines.

Click here to read the entire review>>

 

Virtual Book Tour: More wonderful reviews of Eyes of the Heart!

I am always thrilled when the wonderful folks at Spirituality and Practice review my books.  I am a big fan of the work they do, so much in alignment with what the Abbey offers.  (I am very honored to be one of their Living Spiritual Teachers and I have an e-course offered through them on Wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers)

In an adventuresome opening chapter, the author takes us on an exhilarating spiritual ride with reflections on beauty, the art of beholding, the heart as the source of vision, the third eye, and Thomas Merton as photographer. These musings set the course for Paintner's commentary on contemplative photography not as taking pictures but receiving images as a gift.

Click here to read the whole review>>

The Patheos Book Club continues to feature Eyes of the Heart with more reviews:

Bruce Epperly at Living a Holy Adventure says:

Christine Valters Paintner’s Eyes of the Heart is an invitation to experience a spirituality of beauty. Often the mystical tradition has been other-worldly in focus, seeing the body as a prison house and impediment to experiencing God and counseling seekers to turn away from sense experience in the quest for the unfathomable, insensate God. A photographer who revels in the diverse hues and shapes of the physical world, Paintner takes another path to divinity. While she recognizes the apophatic truth that God is always more than we can imagine and recognizes the importance of iconoclastic spirituality, Eyes of the Heart is profoundly kataphatic, inviting us to love God in the world of the flesh. God is revealed in all of our senses – in fact the world is sensational for those who awaken to the many revelations of God strewn throughout each day.

Click here to read the whole review>>

Elizabeth Nordquist at A Musing Amma writes:

Here is a welcome addition to the books that teach us how to avail ourselves of the Beauty of Holiness through art forms. Christine Valters Paintner, a prolific writer in the arena of spirituality, takes the time and the care to model and to teach a practice of “receiving an image” rather than taking a picture, as a way to deepen one’ s journey of Spirit. In this brief book, designed to shape a spiritual practice over a period of time, she grounds the practice of using a camera as one walks and moves, particularly outdoors, in the quest to pay attention to the way that God is present and communicating with us always and everywhere.

Click here to read the whole review>>

 

Invitation to Poetry: The Wisdom of Creatures

Welcome to Poetry Party #69!

I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your own poem. Scroll down and add it in the comments section below. 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).

I received this photo on a recent journey out to the island of Inis Mór, which is one of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland.  We were visiting the monastic ruins of St Ciaran and there was this beautiful, young Connemara pony in the field adjacent.  When we walked into the church, there he was waiting for us at the other doorway.  We had just visited St. Enda's hermitage, where he had lived as an anchorite, receiving visitors for spiritual direction.  And so I imagined this pony coming to the window to offer his own wisdom.

Write a poem in celebration of the earth's creatures and the wisdom they have to offer to us.  Share it below in the comments with the Abbey community.

On Sunday, June 9th  I will draw a name at random from those who participate and the winner will receive a signed copy of Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice directly from me in Ireland!

Virtual Book Tour: Eyes of the Heart featured at Patheos Book Club

I am delighted that my newest book – Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice - is being featured June 1-15 at the Patheos Book Club.

Stop by for. . .

Seeing with the Eyes of the Heart: A Q&A with Christine Valters Paintner:

Eyes of the Heart is about photography as a Christian contemplative practice.  To begin with, what is your description of a contemplative practice? And then specifically, what is a Christian contemplative practice?

Carmelite monk William McNamara described contemplation as a “long loving look at the real” which I find to be an excellent foundation for understanding contemplative practice.  It is long, meaning it is spacious and slow.  It is loving, meaning it is full of compassion.  It is a look at the real, meaning we bring our presence fully to what is actually real and true before us (rather than how we want things to be), which may not always feel beautiful, but often hard or challenging.  In practicing contemplation we strive to bring a spacious, slow, attentive, and compassionate presence to everything and everyone we encounter.  We try to see the truth of what is there.

A Christian contemplative practice is rooted in one of the many contemplative strands of Christian tradition, such as the wisdom of the desert mothers and fathers, or the Benedictines, Cistercians, or many others.

Read the whole interview here>>

Review at This Ordinary Adventure:

Rather than “take” photographs, we are encouraged to receive them, thoughtfully noticing reflections, color, and what is within ourselves, what God is saying to us. We must consider not just what is beautiful, but what is real, what is good, and what is true. . .

I’ve never seen a book quite like this, but it’s a worthwhile one to step into, for God to form us as deeper people as we receive images from him of this big, beautiful world.

Read the whole review here>>

with more to come!

 

Virtual Book Tour: Review at Find Hope

Next stop on the Virtual Book Tour is Mary Benton's great review at Find Hope where she describes becoming intoxicated by life:

I went out after work tonight and got drunk. In the woods. With my camera.

There was no food or drink involved – for it was not my body but my spirit that became intoxicated. Allow me to explain.

I first "met" Christine Valters Paintner online a couple of years ago quite by accident – or so I tell myself. I was on the internet one evening, googling something or other. I no longer recall what I was searching for but certainly it was not an online community. What I stumbled across was this: www.abbeyofthearts.com. The home page of Christine's website declared itself "an online global monastery without walls" – a most intriguing claim.

Click here to read the whole review>>

Click here to purchase a copy of Eyes of the Heart>>

Previous Virtual Book Tour Stops:

Book Review at Find Hope by Mary Benton
Interview with Christine at Idealawg
Book Review at Shot at Ten Paces by Kate Kennington Steer
Interview (audio) with Christine at Sacred Life Arts
Interview with Christine at Faith Squared
" Tending the Moments " Guest post by Christine at June Mears Driedger
Interview with Christine at Always We Begin Again
" Quieting the Mind through Contemplative Photography " Guest post by Christine at A Photographic Sage
Book Review at GodSpace by Christine Sine
Book Review at A Photographic Sage by Patricia Turner
Book Review at Sense of the Faithful by Peg Conway
" Contemplative Photography in a Time-Obsessed Culture " Guest post by Christine at Expressive Prayer
" Planning a Personal Retreat " Guest post by Christine at A Sacred Journey
Audio Interview at A Congruent Life
" Bless the World with Your Eyes " Guest post by Christine at Consecrate the Day
Interview at Catherine Anderson Studio
" Learning to Trust What Shimmers " Guest post by Christine at Holy Ordinary
" Seeing Ourselves with Eyes of the Heart " Guest post by Christine at Ronna Detrick
Interview with Louise Gallagher at A Year of Rejoicing
Interview with Tara Owens of Anam Cara
Book Review at Holy Ordinary with Brent Bill
Webinar on Cultivating Contemplation in Your Parish through Photography through Ave Maria Press
Book Review at Melanged Magic with Evelyn Jackson
" Practicing Resurrection through the Eyes of the Heart " Guest post by Christine at Anam Cara

Virtual Book Tour: Review at Profoundly Superficial by Annie Wright

Today's stop on the Virtual Book Tour is a lovely review by Annie Wright at Profoundly Superficial:

Picture this. It is full moon and everything is bathed in a silver light. Lying on your back, you gaze upwards while, in a single long exposure, your camera patiently records the stars as they trace their arc across the night sky. You don't have to do a thing. You can simply close your eyes and find yourself floating between heaven and earth.

This is slow photography, something I have little experience of, because professionally I must work with quick decisions and instant reflex reactions. Yet secretly I long to bring time to a standstill and focus on the movements of the cosmos.

Christine Valters Paintner’s “Eyes of the Heart” is full of extraordinary insights and exercises that encourage and nurture the budding slow photographer. Here, you will discover that you "receive" photos rather than take them, that you will wait for what "shimmers" and find, as I did, that your "camera isn't just a tool, it's a portal".

Click here to read the whole review>>

Click here to purchase a copy of Eyes of the Heart>>

Previous Virtual Book Tour Stops:

Interview with Christine at Idealawg
Book Review at Shot at Ten Paces by Kate Kennington Steer
Interview (audio) with Christine at Sacred Life Arts
Interview with Christine at Faith Squared
" Tending the Moments " Guest post by Christine at June Mears Driedger
Interview with Christine at Always We Begin Again
" Quieting the Mind through Contemplative Photography " Guest post by Christine at A Photographic Sage
Book Review at GodSpace by Christine Sine
Book Review at A Photographic Sage by Patricia Turner
Book Review at Sense of the Faithful by Peg Conway
" Contemplative Photography in a Time-Obsessed Culture " Guest post by Christine at Expressive Prayer
" Planning a Personal Retreat " Guest post by Christine at A Sacred Journey
Audio Interview at A Congruent Life
" Bless the World with Your Eyes " Guest post by Christine at Consecrate the Day
Interview at Catherine Anderson Studio
" Learning to Trust What Shimmers " Guest post by Christine at Holy Ordinary
" Seeing Ourselves with Eyes of the Heart " Guest post by Christine at Ronna Detrick
Interview with Louise Gallagher at A Year of Rejoicing
Interview with Tara Owens of Anam Cara
Book Review at Holy Ordinary with Brent Bill
Webinar on Cultivating Contemplation in Your Parish through Photography through Ave Maria Press
Book Review at Melanged Magic with Evelyn Jackson
" Practicing Resurrection through the Eyes of the Heart " Guest post by Christine at Anam Cara

Virtual Book Tour: Interview at Idealawg with Stephanie West Allen

Stop by Idealawg today where lawyer Stephanie West Allen interviewed me for my Virtual Book Tour:

The book shows us why and how the way of seeing facilitated by photography can be valuable. I asked Christine a few questions that may be of interest to conflict professionals.

The law can be a very stressful profession. In Todd Kashdan's book Curious, he talks about the relationship between curiosity and anxiety: the more curious one is, the less anxiety he or she will be experiencing. In your book, you talk about the promotion of curiosity through photography. Will you say more about that, please.

Curiosity is a wonderful quality which promotes spacious inquiry. Rather than needing to figure everything out and extract the answers, through curiosity we can hold ourselves open to new possibilities.  To be curious means to let go of my own expectations about how things should be and discover what is really there.  It means softening my desire to be right and listen into new ways of thinking and being.

Since reading your book, I have repeated in conversations several of the points you made. People seem uniformly intrigued with the notion of receiving photos rather than taking them. Please explain that to readers.

This is one of my favorite aspects of talking about photography specifically as a contemplative practice.  Our favorite and common language for photography is “taking” a photo.   We use it all the time without much thought as to the deeper meaning of the words.  But we live in a culture of taking, where we often grasp at things we want, look for life to meet our desires of the moment, feel impatient when things don’t go our way.

To “receive” a photo means to shift our intention in the process of creating an image.  For me, receiving is about acknowledging that all of life is a gift.  When I go for a walk with my camera, rather than look around me thinking about what images I can take, what kinds of beautiful things I can record as a trophy to my experience, I try to cultivate this sense of receiving gifts.  I pay attention to moments that shimmer before me, even if I don’t understand exactly why.  Something calls to me, stirs my energy, quickens me and I create a sense of spaciousness to receive that through the lens of the camera to see what might be revealed to me.

Click here to read the whole interview>>

Click here to purchase a copy of Eyes of the Heart>>

Previous Virtual Book Tour Stops:

Review at Shot at Ten Paces by Kate Kennington Steer
Interview (audio) with Dana at Sacred Life Arts
Interview with Christine at Faith Squared
" Tending the Moments " Guest post by Christine at June Mears Driedger
Interview with Christine at Always We Begin Again
" Quieting the Mind through Contemplative Photography " Guest post by Christine at A Photographic Sage
Book Review at GodSpace by Christine Sine
Book Review at A Photographic Sage by Patricia Turner
Book Review at Sense of the Faithful by Peg Conway
" Contemplative Photography in a Time-Obsessed Culture " Guest post by Christine at Expressive Prayer
" Planning a Personal Retreat " Guest post by Christine at A Sacred Journey
Audio Interview at A Congruent Life
" Bless the World with Your Eyes " Guest post by Christine at Consecrate the Day
Interview at Catherine Anderson Studio
" Learning to Trust What Shimmers " Guest post by Christine at Holy Ordinary
" Seeing Ourselves with Eyes of the Heart " Guest post by Christine at Ronna Detrick
Interview with Louise Gallagher at A Year of Rejoicing
Interview with Tara Owens of Anam Cara
Book Review at Holy Ordinary with Brent Bill
Webinar on Cultivating Contemplation in Your Parish through Photography through Ave Maria Press
Book Review at Melanged Magic with Evelyn Jackson
" Practicing Resurrection through the Eyes of the Heart " Guest post by Christine at Anam Cara

Virtual Book Tour: Review at Shot at Ten Paces by Kate Kennington Steer

Today's stop on the Virtual Book Tour is a review by Kate Kennington Steer at her lovely photography blog Shot at Ten Paces:

Whether you are experienced DLSR photographer or use your mobile phone camera when and if you remember, this book will open your eyes still further to the possibilities of visualising God’s Spirit moving amongst us. Contemplative photography as a form turns conventional wisdom about how to take a good photograph on its head. Instead of being about 'pointing-and-shooting' or a technical exercise in 'taking' this form is all about waiting and receiving. It is about the inner attitude, the even more difficult task of seeing with your heart and waiting until you see an image clearly before you press the shutter. Valters Paintner links this with the ‘art of beholding’.

Click here to read the whole review>>

Click here to purchase a copy of Eyes of the Heart>>

Previous Virtual Book Tour Stops:

Interview (audio) with Dana at Sacred Life Arts
Interview with Christine at Faith Squared
" Tending the Moments " Guest post by Christine at June Mears Driedger
Interview with Christine at Always We Begin Again
" Quieting the Mind through Contemplative Photography " Guest post by Christine at A Photographic Sage
Book Review at GodSpace by Christine Sine
Book Review at A Photographic Sage by Patricia Turner
Book Review at Sense of the Faithful by Peg Conway
" Contemplative Photography in a Time-Obsessed Culture " Guest post by Christine at Expressive Prayer
" Planning a Personal Retreat " Guest post by Christine at A Sacred Journey
Audio Interview at A Congruent Life
" Bless the World with Your Eyes " Guest post by Christine at Consecrate the Day
Interview at Catherine Anderson Studio
" Learning to Trust What Shimmers " Guest post by Christine at Holy Ordinary
" Seeing Ourselves with Eyes of the Heart " Guest post by Christine at Ronna Detrick
Interview with Louise Gallagher at A Year of Rejoicing
Interview with Tara Owens of Anam Cara
Book Review at Holy Ordinary with Brent Bill
Webinar on Cultivating Contemplation in Your Parish through Photography through Ave Maria Press
Book Review at Melanged Magic with Evelyn Jackson
" Practicing Resurrection through the Eyes of the Heart " Guest post by Christine at Anam Cara

Virtual Blog Tour: Interview (Audio!) at Sacred Life Arts

I am delighted to share today's stop on the Virtual Book Tour at Sacred Life Arts where Dana Reynolds interviews me on the contemplative life, my new book, and where this adventure I am on is taking me.  Pour yourself a cup of tea, settle in, and stop by Dana's sanctuary space for a listen.

Click here to purchase a copy of Eyes of the Heart>>

Previous Virtual Book Tour Stops:

Interview with Christine at Faith Squared
" Tending the Moments " Guest post by Christine at June Mears Driedger
Interview with Christine at Always We Begin Again
" Quieting the Mind through Contemplative Photography " Guest post by Christine at A Photographic Sage
Book Review at GodSpace by Christine Sine
Book Review at A Photographic Sage by Patricia Turner
Book Review at Sense of the Faithful by Peg Conway
" Contemplative Photography in a Time-Obsessed Culture " Guest post by Christine at Expressive Prayer
" Planning a Personal Retreat " Guest post by Christine at A Sacred Journey
Audio Interview at A Congruent Life
" Bless the World with Your Eyes " Guest post by Christine at Consecrate the Day
Interview at Catherine Anderson Studio
" Learning to Trust What Shimmers " Guest post by Christine at Holy Ordinary
" Seeing Ourselves with Eyes of the Heart " Guest post by Christine at Ronna Detrick
Interview with Louise Gallagher at A Year of Rejoicing
Interview with Tara Owens of Anam Cara
Book Review at Holy Ordinary with Brent Bill
Webinar on Cultivating Contemplation in Your Parish through Photography through Ave Maria Press
Book Review at Melanged Magic with Evelyn Jackson
" Practicing Resurrection through the Eyes of the Heart " Guest post by Christine at Anam Cara