Christine Valters Paintner's Blog, page 52

Monk in the World Guest Post: Lerita Coleman Brown

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for an excerpt from Lerita Coleman Brown's book When the Heart Speaks, Listen—Discovering Inner Wisdom on listening to the "little Voice."

I straddled the edge of the examination table in the doctor’s office. The news was terrifying and devastating. I would need a heart transplant in 18 months or less. As a single, African American female professor living in Boulder, Colorado; USA in 1994, I could not fathom where this uninvited journey would lead me. I prayed ceaselessly for miraculous healing or some detour. With help from friends, I located a therapist trained to assist people with chronic health conditions. As I shared the unraveling of my life and my apprehensions about a transplant, Dr. Carlos Martinez suggested that I talk with my heart.

At first I imagined Active Imagination to be some futile psychotherapeutic technique. After I wrote my first conversation using this Jungian process, I realized these dialogues with my heart might sustain me through the transplant and offer me wisdom that I could incorporate into a post-transplant life. In When the Heart Speaks, Listen—Discovering Inner Wisdom, both hearts, “Heavy Harvey” and “Grace” urge me to listen to the “little Voice.” Fairly intuitive, I understood the need for deeper and more frequent inner listening for my survival. In the following excerpt, Heavy Harvey attempts to describe the little Voice and why it is so important.

HH: Discipline is key. You cannot do anything without discipline. And, OK, maybe I forgot to mention listening to the little Voice.
LERITA: The little Voice? Didn't you bring that up before?
HH: Yes, see if you were having this talk with your stomach or intestines, you might have talked about following your gut. The little Voice is the same as following your gut or listening to the deepest part of the heart.
LERITA: Is it like intuition?
HH: Yes. Yes.
LERITA: OK, so what does the little Voice do?
HH: The little Voice guides you. It usually manifests as a feeling. You feel compelled or moved to call someone or do something. Coupled with faith, you can start to set healthy boundaries and express your disapproval about a man’s behavior from a place of peace and strength. However, if I, your heart, is all clogged up with anger, resentment, anxiety, disappointment, and depression, it is very difficult to hear anything, let alone a quiet Voice.
LERITA: I understand the anger and resentment getting in the way, but how does carrying disappointment and depression in the heart block the little Voice?
HH: Being lighthearted, Lerita means just that. Think about it. Depression and disappointment are very heavy, thick feelings. They can pull you down so much that you are hardly aware of anything else. It's like being trapped in a dark cave. You cannot see the light outside nor hear the people on the surface trying to rescue you. The Voice is your rescue team calling to you, but the chatter in your mind is so full of doom and gloom that you cannot hear the help.

Throughout the pre-transplant period, my heart provided awe-inspiring enlightenment on a wide array of topics. My practice became a deep inner listening coupled with clearing away the noisy and heavy emotions as they arose so I could hear the Voice with greater clarity.

Grace, my new heart offered another perspective by asking me to engage with the “little Voice” by intentionally quieting my mind.

GG: When you focus on the stillness within you, you create more space in your heart to hear the Voice, the Guidance. It usually doesn’t communicate in words, although in circumstances of imminent danger or for urgent messages, you might hear a direct audible command. It's more like urges.
LERITA: Like the intuition that Heavy Harvey spoke about?
GG: Yes.
LERITA: The Spirit communicates through the “little Voice”?
GG: Yes, yes. The Spirit will guide you out of the hell you find yourself in if you listen attentively. Taking one day at a time or one moment at a time and taking time for solitude, will help tremendously.
LERITA: All I need to do is be still and listen?
GG: Yes, but it isn’t easy. In the stillness you begin to know when and where to go. You may need to talk about why you think life is hell with your therapist or a spiritual director, or you may need to take some anti-depressive-anti-anxiety medications. You might need to join a support group. I am certain that there are many patients who face similar challenges and they might have great insights to offer. Or maybe you need to read a certain book or call your sister. The guidance is not always the same, and it varies depending on the situation.

Grace suggests that the “little Voice” is a vehicle for the Spirit to speak to me and it sits within a grotto of stillness. It is this Inner Guidance that directed me as I maneuvered the unknown and occasionally terrorizing world of additional medical challenges including a month long hospitalization for organ rejection, a year of dialysis, kidney transplant, heart valve replacement and pacemaker. I also received counsel about mundane issues like food choices, rest, and visitors. In order to experience the Peace and Joy that resides in my heart my daily practice remains connected to listening to the “little Voice.” Five minutes before the hour, I stop, check in, and ask Spirit, “Am I following your Guidance in this moment? What am I feeling right now? Is there anything blocking my Peace and Joy?” Spirit’s Guidance is never wrong even though I may receive a request I don’t wish to fulfill (e.g., to have an uncomfortable medical procedure or difficult conversation). Carrying a sense of the Divine within me everywhere I go triggers both tranquility and jubilance. Wholeness and delight frame my days when I pause to listen for the Inner Wisdom that I know lies in every heart.

Lerita Coleman Brown, professor of psychology emerita, spiritual director, retreat leader, and speaker promotes contemplative spirituality and the renown mystic and theologian, Howard Thurman on her website, PeaceforHearts.com. She is the author of several articles, chapters, essays and the book, When the Heart Speaks, Listen—Discovering Inner Wisdom

The post Monk in the World Guest Post: Lerita Coleman Brown appeared first on Abbey of the Arts.

New Poetry Video – Listen ~ A Love Note From Your Online Abbess

Listen by Christine Valters Paintner.mp4 from Abbey of the Arts on Vimeo.

I wake to a rising of robin voices,
their tiny chests puffed like ripe persimmons.
Acres of clouds strum across the day-blue sky,
wind breathes its endless score over heathered hills
and the sea beyond my window churns.

Somewhere a hazelnut drops rustling to the ground.
Peony peels herself open in a slow yawn
to reveal a multitude of pleasures.
Fox darts between hedgerows, breaking her silent reverie,
orange fur brushing against golden gorse profusion.

Beneath sirens and the perpetual groan of cars,
the march of trains and planes propelled by timetables,
beneath the endless clatter of your own mind, you can,
for a moment, hear the asparagus heaving headlong into spring.
My labor is to love this secret symphony.

You curl yourself around me at night,
song of your breath stuns me into the sweetest sleep.
And the blue glass vase sits on the table beside me,
holding roses you bought because they smelled like an aria.
When this is over, all I want to say is that I heard the music
of the very last petal

drop.

— Christine Valters Paintner, Dreaming of Stones

Dearest monks and artists,

This weekend we are hosting our last online community retreat until the late August. We always try to take time in the summer to step back from schedules and regular commitments to allow space to be and breathe.

I’ve been longing for more quiet space to listen. This past year or more has been remarkable in so many ways for all of us. There has been a tremendous amount of grief and loss – loss of health, loss of loved ones, loss of our sense of security, loss of jobs or dreams. And there has also been much grace erupting alongside these – the grace of finding new ways to connect to one another across the globe, I have felt Abbey of the Arts as a community more than ever before. That is a tremendous gift.

As the pandemic forced us to move everything online we experimented with all kinds of formats and possibilities – mini-retreats and weekend retreats in addition to our usual multi-week retreats, online small group experiences, our Novenas, and of course our Prayer Cycles as well. I’ve also received many invitations from various groups to teach or present now that everything seems more accessible. I have said yes to a lot of these, this year has been a grand year of experimentation, of seeing what worked well to serve this wonderful community.

I am thrilled to be moving into time when I have a clear no to outside invitations or demands on my time. I love the spaciousness of summers when there is nothing scheduled except time to write (I do always have another book project to work on!) and time to dream into how things might continue to unfold.

Mostly I want time to listen, to hear the music of life in new ways all around me.

I invite you to read the poem above and then watch the poem video as a way of entering into the images through another medium. See what calls to you out of this invitation to really hear how the world offers itself up to us when we clear the space for it to sing more clearly.

A few other places my work is appearing on the web this week:

Read my article about Life Stages and Discernment at U.S. Catholic Magazine online. This is an adaptation from one of the chapters of my newest book Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life.

I was interviewed on Desert Voices podcast by two lovely young women with a passion for desert spirituality. Listen in as we discuss the revolutionary power of stillness and how beauty will save the world.

One of the voices I have been listening closely to these days is Mary and the sacred feminine as I finish up writing my book about 30 of her names and titles (will be published in spring 2022). I have been incredibly blessed to work with block print artist Kreg Yingst who has created beautiful art pieces to companion each name (see them all below). If you’d like a print of any of these he is having a sale with free shipping in the U.S. until June 12th. See them all here.

If you are looking for some online retreats this summer we are having a sale of 25% off on all 18 of our self-study retreats! Click here to see the promotional code and details. Your registration helps to support our many free program offerings.

With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Poetry video above created by Morgan Creative

Mary images below created by Kreg Yingst

The post New Poetry Video – Listen ~ A Love Note From Your Online Abbess appeared first on Abbey of the Arts.

Summer Self-Study SALE! (until June 28th)

Coupon Code: SUMMERSALE25 – 25% off all self-study retreats until June 30th! Choose from 20 different programs all with lifetime access to the content.

When you click the registration button on each retreat page it will take you to an enrolment page that asks for your email address (unless you are already logged into the learning system) and below that is a link that says “Apply a coupon.” Click that and enter the code SUMMERSALE25 into that field and the discounted price should appear.

See all self-study retreats here

The post Summer Self-Study SALE! (until June 28th) appeared first on Abbey of the Arts.

Monk in the World Guest Post: Suzanne Dowd

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Suzanne Dowd's reflection on listening for grace.

It’s a rainy Thursday, I set up my laptop, make myself a cup a tea, put on a warm cozy sweater & settle in to the new comfy chair in my home office to do virtual sessions with my patients. My profession is that of a clinical social worker. Each week I feel privileged to walk with patients through their life stories. Some stories are so dark, I don’t know at first if they will ever see the light again. But, I have hope & through God’s grace give them hope for a light filled tomorrow.

Each person’s journey is unique. I ask God before the start of each work day. “Please Lord let your words flow off my tongue not my own.” God’s voice near fails.  I realized the other day that more that 90% of my caseload of patients have found meditation, visualization, prayer, painting, journaling or spending time in nature to be a deep part of their healing process. I don’t believe it is of my leading but of God’s nudging. So together we journey through the woods, or listen to a newly crafted poem, praying together, viewing a magnificent new work of art or doing breath work or visualization together. These are gifts of the spirit. No matter what age my patient is, 8 or 80, God’s presence is with us during each session & beyond.

I am a contemplative by nature.  Rising in the early morning before daybreak, it is the silence I embrace. Music to my ears. A cup of coffee, some spiritual reading, the writing of poetry. These days especially Haiku. Not sure why this form. All bring me peace & comfort to start the day in harmony.

The circumstances, of the now one year plus of the pandemic, had forced me to leave my office life behind & shelter in place which includes doing Telehealth with my patients from home. It was an adjustment at first. The physical connection of seeing patients in person adds to the therapeutic experience in so many ways. Body language, playing a game with a child, a cup of tea together, an occasional hug are all a part of the journey together. Transitioning to screen time seemed so impersonal at first but digging deeper, as the months of the pandemic progressed, led to more creativity. Strongly focusing on facial cues; finding ways to play games together online with children, leading a patient through a visualization or breath work, meeting family members & pets; actually having a meal together as we talk, listening to a patient play a song they wrote on guitar, a wave instead of a hug . . . all have added to the therapeutic process & are pure gift. I am reminded of a Leonard Cohen song, “Anthem”: ”there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in, that’s how the light gets in, that’s how the light gets in”.

As working from home continues into 2021, I embrace the nuances of each day. A break in my work day gives me the opportunity to prep for dinner; meditate more, do yoga or call a friend.

These things enrich my soul & lead me to go on with my work day refreshed in body, mind & spirit. Change is not easy but with hope, creativity, God’s love & graces . . . there is always light.

The morning’s daybreak
Glimpse of light
Hope for tomorrow

Suzanne Dowd, LCSW has been a licensed clinical social worker for more than 30 years. She loves her work as much today as when she first started, especially working with children & adolescents.  She is currently working on a book of Haiku & other poetry. Suzanne’s time with family & friends brings her the greatest of joys.

The post Monk in the World Guest Post: Suzanne Dowd appeared first on Abbey of the Arts.

Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color – June Video Discussion and Book Group Materials Now Available

Join Abbey of the Arts for a monthly conversation on how increasing our diversity of perspectives on contemplative practice can enrich our understanding and experience of the Christian mystical tradition. 

Christine Valters Paintner is joined by author Claudia Love Mair for a series of video conversations. Each month they take up a new book by or about a voice of color. The community is invited to purchase and read the books in advance and participate actively in this journey of deepening, discovery, and transformation. 

Click here to view this month's video discussion along with questions for reflection. 

Meditations of the Heart is a beautiful collection of meditations and prayers by one of our greatest spiritual leaders. Howard Thurman, the great spiritualist and mystic, was renowned for the quiet beauty of his reflections on humanity and our relationship with God. This collection of fifty-four of his most well-known meditations features his thoughts on prayer, community, and the joys and rituals of life. Within this collection are words that sustain, elevate, and inspire. Thurman addresses those moments of trial and uncertainty and offers a message of hope and endurance for people of all faiths.

Join our Lift Every Voice Facebook Group for more engagement and discussion.

The post Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color – June Video Discussion and Book Group Materials Now Available appeared first on Abbey of the Arts.

Sacred Balance ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks and artists,

Melinda Thomas has been offering her admin support at Abbey of the Arts for many years now. She is often the warm voice who replies to your emails and she makes sure the daily email newsletter gets formatted and scheduled. She has many more gifts, however, including being a terrific writer and an inspiring yoga teacher. 

She published a book last fall which brings together principles of yogic teaching with those from Benedictine spirituality, two traditions which have shaped me in significant ways. I am really delighted that she agreed to offer an online retreat for our community next weekend. Who among us doesn’t long for a deeper sense of balance in our lives. It will be our final online offering until the second half of August as we always take some quiet time in the summer to rest and dream. 

Whether you consider yourself a yogi or a monk, or neither but are curious about the connections, read on for some wisdom from Melinda and consider joining us:

“I am delighted by the opportunity to spend time with you this weekend and explore the balancing traditions of yoga and the Rule of St. Benedict. In my book, Sacred Balance: Aligning Body and Spirit Through Yoga and the Benedictine Way, I discuss the many ways Benedictine spirituality and yoga can work in conjunction with one another to promote a balanced approach to life. Here is a brief excerpt. 

'Even though it was written for monastics, the Rule has been a social and spiritual influence for more than 1,500 years. Attention to God’s presence in all things, the importance of right relationship, stability, listening, growth, hospitality, rhythms, silence, and sabbath: these themes transcend the walls of the monastery. Anyone can apply these underlying concepts to daily life. The temptation to say that it is easier to live them out within the confines of a cloister is to dismiss the shared challenges of being human. Yes, it may be less difficult for a monk or nun to pause and pray the psalms and liturgies seven times a day than it is for a layperson; but is it any easier to focus on the Divine in the moment?

Balanced living in spirit, mind, and body is a dynamic conversation between steadiness and motion, work and prayer, sound and silence, activity and rest. Study and application of the balancing way of Benedictine spirituality and yoga are useful markers on the path. Their wisdom has endured the test of time with its evolving cultural norms, politics, theology, technology, and medicine precisely because these traditions bring a steadying dialogue within an ever-changing world. 

If you are new to Benedictine spirituality or yoga, or if any of the ideas and practices feel foreign, I encourage you to approach them with an open mind and the Benedictine principles of listening and growth. We don’t know what we don’t know. The path of balance invites us to be curious, exploratory, and receptive to God’s call in the here and now.

In the prologue to the Rule, Benedict quotes Jesus’s words: 'Run while you have the light of life that the darkness of death may not overtake you' (John 12:35). The first Yoga Sutra reads, 'Now is the exposition of yoga.' The time is now. Balance is not an elusive goal. The path of balance is like God: ever present at all times and in all places. All we must do is shift our attention to see it and welcome it more fully into our hearts and lives. In this moment. Now.'

In this online retreat we will explore the complementary principles of: humility and hospitality; listening, stability and conversion; rhythms, silence and sabbath. Through gentle yoga, meditation, journaling, and discussion, tap into time honored wisdom and practices that affirm a balanced approach to daily living. May our time together help us seek new ways or reaffirm old ones that help us live in balance."

With great and growing love,

Christine 

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Photo (c) Melinda Emily Thomas

Photo Text: "The wisdom of Benedictine spirituality and yoga have endured the test of time with its evolving cultural norms politics, theology, technology and medicine precisely because these traditions bring a steadying dialogue within an ever changing world."

The post Sacred Balance ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess appeared first on Abbey of the Arts.

Monk in the World Guest Post: Lisa Bozarth Ozaeta

I am delighted to share this beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series by Lisa Bozarth Ozaeta. Lisa is joining Abbey of the Arts as our new seminary intern for the next two years. She is in training for ordination in the Episcopal church and we are delighted to have her enthusiasm and gifts in service to this community. She will be involved in several of our programs. Here she shares a bit of her own practice of silence:

One of my rituals is to plant myself on my back deck early in the morning. I take a cup of coffee, my journal, my phone, and a blanket. I sit on our metal outdoor sofa with ill-fitting cushions. It is both a little uncomfortable and perfectly familiar. My time is spent reading a verse, hearing a song, scratching in my journal, and sitting. The point is to sit in silence and stillness. Most of the time, I just stare into the forest. Being in the midst of the woods means that my silence and stillness are not very quiet. There are the sounds of the neighbor's goats and the rooster down the road. Birds sing, the winds blow, and cars rumble down the old logging road at the bottom of our hill. It is very noisy silence. There was a time that I would put noise cancelling earphones on to cancel out all of the sound. I was seeking the serenity of separation from the world. My hope was to create a quiet place that was mine alone. I do still like to enter this kind of solitude from time to time, but my morning time is now about being silent and still amongst the noisy outdoors where I live.

As I have continued to journey into the life of a monk in the world, I have embraced the sounds of the trees, the animals, and my neighbors. I am the crazy lady that talks to the birds, squirrels, and trees. Mostly, I say thank you. Many days, I ask the trees what they have seen over the hundreds of years they have stood in what is now my backyard.

My daughter once asked me if the trees talk back. I assured her that they do. They speak to me about holding my place when things get tumultuous. They remind me to point to the light so that I can continue to grow. They show me how to be a shelter for those in need and to provide food for the hungry. They also remind me that they were here before me and will be here when I am gone. When I cancelled all the noise around me, I could only hear my own thoughts. By allowing myself to open my ears, I hear the wisdom of the trees and creatures that live in my temporary home. It is only be letting the noise of the world in that I can actually find the true grounding of silence.

I take this grounding back into the world of four children and covid schooling and new warning lights blinking in my car. When the sounds around me are the echoes of frustrated voices instead of the goat’s bleat, I am rooted. Even when my first reaction is not the reaction that I want, I am called back to the voice of the tree saying, “Find your strength. Find your silence in the noise.” I am at a place in my journey that I want to move from practicing rituals to embodying stillness. I want to move from doing to being. I am not there. I do not always respond with listening. I talk too fast and too often. I think and plan more than I listen and hear. But, my practice of staring into the forest is transforming me. I believe that the more I listen to what God has to teach me through creation, the more I will find my place as a monk in the world.

Lisa Bozarth Ozaeta lives outside of Seattle with her wife and four kids. She is serving as the Abbey’s seminary intern over the next two years. Lisa teaches in the Healthcare Master of Administration program at the University of Southern California and is a seminary student at Bexley Seabury Seminary.

The post Monk in the World Guest Post: Lisa Bozarth Ozaeta appeared first on Abbey of the Arts.

Pentecost + Monk in the World podcast (Creative Joy)

Creative Joy: Day 7 Morning and Evening Prayer

"What is serious to men is often very trivial in the sight of God. What in God might appear to us as 'play' is perhaps what He Himself takes most seriously. At any rate the Lord plays and diverts Himself in the garden of His creation, and if we could let go of our own obsession with what we think is the meaning of it all, we might be able to hear His call and follow Him in His mysterious, cosmic dance."

---Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Dearest monks and artists,

We now have morning and evening audio podcasts for Day 7 of our Monk in the World Prayer Cycle available for you to pray with! The theme for Day 7 is Creative Joy and invites us to make space not only for the challenges and grief that we hold, but also for the cosmic dance at the heart of all creation. Our lives are lived in this tension and both are essential.

We live in the midst of chaotic times. As crises continue to build, we may find ourselves confused or fearful. We may want to gather in the upper room of our lives with our closest friends and close the door on a troubled world just like the disciples. Yet chaos always calls for creative response, it always beckons us to open to holy surprise. It asks that we trust that Love and Joy are at the foundation of things.

Today is the feast of Pentecost, that glorious final day of the season of resurrection. The Apostles were together experiencing bewilderment over how to move forward when the Holy Spirit flows among them and breathes courage into their hearts. If we have stayed committed to our Easter pilgrimage this far then we may still wonder why we have journeyed so long and still are full of fear and unknowing.

It says that those who witnessed this event were "amazed and perplexed." Some were confused, others cynical. Peter reminds the crowds of the words the prophet Joel declared, that all will be called to dreams and visions, all will need to be attentive to signs and wonders.

The story of Pentecost asks us a question: How do I let my expectations and cynicism close my heart to the new voice rising like a fierce wind?

Eugene Peterson describes it this way: "What we must never be encouraged to do, although all of us are guilty of it over and over, is to force Scripture to fit our experience. Our experience is too small; it's like trying to put the ocean into a thimble. What we want is to fit into the world revealed by Scripture, to swim in its vast ocean."

About twenty years ago I was going through an intense period of discernment. I had finished graduate school and found that my desires were no longer in alignment with the path I had initially imagined for myself. I spent long periods of time in silence and solitude, engaging all of the essential techniques for discernment I had learned in my studies and previous practice. I was taking this very seriously because this was my life path I was pondering. Then one night I had a dream about koala bears trying to get a map out of my hands so they could play with me. In my reflection time that followed I discovered a playful God who was calling me to take myself and my discernment far less seriously than I had been. I love to laugh but in my longing to discover the next path, I had forgotten what Merton reminds us in the opening quote: how playfulness is woven into the heart of the universe, how sometimes what God takes most seriously is what we easily dismiss.

Pentecost demands that we listen with a willing heart, and that we open ourselves to ongoing radical transformation. We discover that the pilgrimage does not end here, instead we are called to a new one of sharing our gifts with the world. Soul work is always challenging and calls us beyond our comfort zone. Prayer isn't about baptizing the status quo, but entering into dynamic relationship with the God who always makes things new. Scripture challenges our ingrained patterns of belief, our habitual attitudes and behavior.

To be fully human and alive is to know the tension of our dustiness, our mortality, to be called to a profoundly healthy humility where we acknowledge that we can know very little of the magnificence of the divine Source of all. The Spirit descends on those gathered together in a small room and breaks the doors wide open. We are reminded that practicing resurrection is not for ourselves alone, but on behalf of a wider community. Not only for those with whom we might attend church services, but beyond to the ones who sit at the furthest margins of our awareness. Pentecost is a story of the courage that comes from breaking established boundaries.

We may limit our vision through cynicism, but equally through certainty or cleverness. Sometimes we fear doubt so much that we allow it to make our thoughts rigid, we choose certainties and then never make space for the Spirit to break those open or apart. The things we feel sure that God does not care about may be precisely the source of healing for a broken world.

Life isn't about knowing with more and more certainty. This is the invitation of our creative practice as well, to move more deeply into the mystery of things. I find that the older I get, the less sure I am about anything and the richer my life becomes as I make space for unknowing, expansiveness, and possibilities far beyond my capacity for imagining. If when Pentecost arrives you do not find yourself perplexed or amazed, consider releasing the tight grip of your certain thoughts and make space for holy surprise.

Today we release Day 7 of our Monk in the World prayer cycle audio podcasts on the theme of Creative Joy. You can now access the audio podcasts for all 7 days of both our Earth Monastery prayer cycle and the Monk in the World prayer cycle at this link. The video podcasts for the Monk in the World series will be produced this fall.

With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

PS – Spirituality and Practice has posted a lovely review of my newest book Sacred Time!

Photo © Christine Valters Paintner

The post Pentecost + Monk in the World podcast (Creative Joy) appeared first on Abbey of the Arts.

Monk in the World Guest Post: Tom (TA) Delmore

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to our Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Tom (TA) Delmore's reflection taken from the introduction to his book Crossing up River.

A children’s story which is only enjoyed
By children is a bad children’s story. ~  C. S. Lewis

 I have been a shy searcher for a relationship with God most of my life. Different paths have taught me much. This is God and I walking together.

 St Ignatius of Loyola taught me something about story. He said: “put yourself in the gospel story, imagine what it must be like.” I took this to heart and began to enter other stories, children’s picture book became a way to enter into my story. I was looking for my Wounded Child, Tommy, and finding the healing I needed. 

I came to write Crossing up River from my life experience of being a detention worker in a juvenile institution, preschool teacher, parent, spiritual director and an abused child. 

Why should adults read and observe the art in children’s picture books? That’s a great question! If you have children you probably already do. If you are a teacher of young children you would and hopefully, read to them on a daily basis, and if you have a Wounded Inner Child in you, and most of us do, then it’s a good time to reconnect with that child. Oh, and if you think about it, most children’s books are written by adults!

These stories are meant for the child to wonder at and through, for parents to live vicariously through their young child’s emotions. And yes, grow into the adult you are meant to be. I believe that we are sometimes narrow our view of children’s picture books. In Crossing up River I have seen the narrow expand into a healing ocean! My imagination cries for more. Leap into Amos and Boris by William Steig where a mouse can do amazing things for a whale and vice versa. Join Al in Hey Al by Arthur Yorinks, Richard Egielski as he wakes up to read the signs around him before he turns into a sleepy bird i.e. a lotus eater. Tub Grandfather By Pam Conrad, Richard Egielski who disappears but is too important to ever forget. 

As a preschool teacher, I watched the literal/imaginative minds of three and four-year-olds take in stories in a very satisfying way. These stories are a perfect example of how as children we read the story as a child. One day reading the wonderful story of The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Bishop and Kurt Wiese, I came to the part in the book where one of the brothers takes the whole ocean into his mouth so that a boy who has been pestering a Chinese brother can pick treasures up off the ocean floor. I asked myself what the ocean signifies in my life.  The little boy is told to keep an eye on the Chinese brother for a signal to return so the ocean can go back to its rightful place. The boy does not follow directions, and the book says the boy disappears. I asked the children what happened to the boy, without hesitation they said he died. A very literal response and a correct one for a child, but it did not say that in the book. On this day, a shift occurred in me the boy disappeared but I sensed he could return (a trickster character possibly) and cause more mischief later on. I began to change the metaphor not the story for myself, to a place of healing. Where had my boy Tommy gone? From then on I read children’s books with a different ear and eye. My leap and belief is that these books are postmodern fairytales for adults! The Jesuits would also say we need to stretch, and I believe that is what I am doing in reading and interpreting these books for adult healing.

I ask myself these questions: Who am I in the story? How does this book affect me as an adult? And, do I have the ability to go beyond the literal and to imagine in ways I never could? What is the truth for me in these stories?  

I was raised with rules and beliefs that are not so relevant today. Here is a chance to look at books we loved as a children and see the healing that is available for us as adults! Here is a chance to see books for the first time again and marvel into a new way of seeing and hearing into healing and wholeness. If I can feel these stories in me I have faith you can as well. I was ready for the shift on the inside when the preschoolers told me their answer and mine was different. Not wrong, different. I gave you a few titles in this article of books to enter into but you might have favorites of your own. Read boldly onward!

By Tom (TA) Delmore copyright  2020 unpublished

[image error]Tom A (TA) Delmore lives in Bellevue, Washington. His books of poetry include Eclipsing F Crow Poems (Little Letterhead Press, 1996); Child is working to Capacity (Moon Pie Press, 2006); A Poultice for Belief (March Street Press, 2009); Tell them that you saw me but didn't see me saw (Moon Pie Press, 2011). Individual poems have been published in Raven Chronicles and Seattle M.E.N. Magazine. His latest Poem appears in; Take a Stand Art Against Hate. A Raven Chronicles Anthology. Titled: Homeless Vet. 2020 Visit him at  CrowsPerch.blogspot.com

A forthcoming poem In America Magazine a Jesuit Weekly.

The post Monk in the World Guest Post: Tom (TA) Delmore appeared first on Abbey of the Arts.

Awakening the Creative Spirit + Monk in the World podcast (Conversion) ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Conversion: Day 6 Morning and Evening Prayer

Dearest monks and artists,

Today we release Day 6 Morning and Evening prayer of our Monk in the World audio podcast on the theme of conversion! Conversion is very much a monastic principle that has less to do with the idea of “being converted” as a one-time event and more of a commitment to a lifetime of growing and deepening. We are very much committed to the practice of conversion here at Abbey of the Arts, believing that none of us is done growing and transforming during our lives. There is always more to discover and awaken to.

This opening to holy surprise is perhaps most apparent in the creative process. When we show up with a beginner’s heart and allow the process to unfold without our interference or editing, we end up on a sacred journey of discovery. We draw this approach to creativity from the field of expressive arts which values process over product, creative unfolding over steering a course with a particular goal in mind.

We make space for this way of creating in our online and in-person programs. For many it is a revelation to have permission to play, to experiment, to see what unfolds when we get out of our own way and quiet the inner critic, judge, and planner. This, of course, also applies to life. Creative practice helps us to then approach the whole of our lives in this way.

Kayce Stevens Hughlett is one of our long-time Wisdom Council members. I became friends with Kayce about 15 years ago when she attended our first Awakening the Creative Spirit intensive, which at the time we led in Seattle. She became a poster child for creative awakening and the journey has taken her many amazing places, both internally and externally.

For a few years after moving to Europe I would travel back to the U.S. to offer our Awakening intensive with my wonderful co-teacher Betsey Beckman. I love teaching that program but it became apparent that so much transatlantic travel wasn’t sustainable for me. I realized that in order for that material to continue to be available I had to lean into support from others and Kayce stepped in to be Betsey’s co-facilitator for that program offered each year in the Pacific Northwest.

Awakening the Creative Spirit will be offered again this October 31-November 5, 2021 on the beautiful Hood Canal in Union, WA. I asked Kayce to say a few words in this love note and to share again a post she wrote a while back about what it means for her to be an artist of being alive.

From Kayce: “As I began to read the following post that I wrote almost 8 years ago, I wondered if it would stand the test of time. I'm delighted to answer with a resounding, "Yes!" Creativity and artistry in life are practices that ground me into my spirituality. In preparing to once again lead Awakening the Creative Spirit with Betsey Beckman, I offer immense gratitude for the priceless gift of holding space for others and helping nurture their artists within. I invite you to read on at this link and notice what internal nudges you might feel for yourself as an artist of being alive.”

If you are a soul care practitioner, consider joining Betsey and Kayce for this wonderful program gathering this fall in the Pacific Northwest, US.

And of course all are invited to continue to cultivate their inner artists, that part of ourselves that falls in love with the beauty of the world and sparks a creative aliveness and joy in living. With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Photo © Christine Valters Paintner

The post Awakening the Creative Spirit + Monk in the World podcast (Conversion) ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess appeared first on Abbey of the Arts.