Christine Valters Paintner's Blog, page 86

Celtic Conversations with Carl McColman

I am delighted to introduce a new podcast series, Celtic Conversations, inspired by my new book The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred and my time living in Ireland. I am hosting a series of conversations with authors, artists, and guides about Celtic spirituality. So find a cozy space and pour yourself a cup of tea. (Also available at Soundcloud, Stitcher and iTunes).

My guest today is Carl McColman and we had a delightful conversation about a universal Celtic spirituality, the three strands of the tradition, a third way that embraces pagan roots and Christian branches, our incarnate and transcendent human nature, hospitality, "at the edge of waiting,"  threshold experiences, and the practice of storytelling.

Carl McColman is a contemplative writer, speaker, retreat leader, catechist and spiritual companion. He is the author of several books, including Befriending Silence, Answering the Contemplative Call, and The Big Book of Christian Mysticism. He is a life-professed Lay Cistercian (a layperson under formal spiritual guidance of Cistercian monks) affiliated with the Trappist Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia. He also received formation in the practice of Christian spirituality and contemplative leadership through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation.

Carl regularly leads retreats and speaks on the contemplative life at monasteries and retreat centers, cathedrals, parishes and seminaries. His ministry is ecumenical in scope, and he has also participated in a number of interfaith initiatives. He maintains a website, blogs for Patheos, and is the co-host of a podcast, Encountering Silence.

About his ministry, Carl says, “I help Christians and other seekers respond to the healing love of God through prayer, silence, and discernment, so to embody a joyful life of creativity, service and delight.” He does this by passionately encouraging his audience to embrace contemplative spirituality, to drink from the deep wells of Christian wisdom beginning with scripture and the wisdom of saints and mystics, and to apply such insight to the challenges and concerns of everyday life.

His newest book, An Invitation to Celtic Spirituality: A Little Guide to Mystery, Spirit, and Compassion, will be published this November 2018 by Hampton Roads Publishing.

Carl McColman lives near Atlanta, GA. In addition to his blog, he is active on social media, including Facebook and Twitter.

Carl shared this beautiful poem by Billy Collins to begin our time together:

Design

I pour a coating of salt on the table


and make a circle in it with my finger.
This is the cycle of life
I say to no one.
This is the wheel of fortune,
the Arctic Circle.
This is the ring of Kerry
and the white rose of Tralee
I say to the ghosts of my family,
the dead fathers,
the aunt who drowned,
my unborn brothers and sisters,
my unborn children.
This is the sun with its glittering spokes
and the bitter moon.
This is the absolute circle of geometry
I say to the crack in the wall,
to the birds who cross the window.
This is the wheel I just invented
to roll through the rest of my life
I say
touching my finger to my tongue.







—Billy Collins, “Design” from The Art of Drowning. Copyright © 1995 by Billy Collins

*Opening music track is an excerpt from Simon DeVoil's song "Water" on his album Heart Medicine (used with kind permission)

Harvesting the Gifts ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims,

It is a very full season of life for me right now, having facilitated our Writing on the Wild Edges retreat at the end of August with John here in Ireland, then traveled to Germany to lead our pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Hildegard of Bingen with Betsey Beckman (we are looking at fall 2021 for the next offering of that program).  In a couple of days John and I have a new group arrive to Galway where we will journey to local sacred ruins and explore the gift that Celtic monasticism has for our lives. Then in November we travel together to Vienna, Austria, a city so close to my heart, to lead another monastic pilgrimage to the beautiful sites and monasteries there. My heart is so full with wonder at the work I am blessed to do.

Having led retreats for close to 25 years now and offering pilgrimages for the last five years, there is an ease and a joy that rises while also having the privilege of getting to know so many amazing dancing monks. Truly, the people who show up for our programs give me tremendous hope for our fractured world. People of great kindness, presence, commitment, and creative vision. I cherish my role in being present for one small part of the journey, and I know how much travel and pilgrimage has the potential to transform hearts and lives as it has done for my own.

I am so delighted with the wonderful reception my newest book The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred  has been receiving (special thank you to everyone who has written an Amazon review!) This book feels very much like a harvest of my time living here in Ireland for the past six years, a book I could not have written without my lived experience of the land and her people. I am also working with Paraclete Press currently on my collection of poems, Dreaming of Stones, which will be out next February/March 2019. This also feels like a rich harvest of my life here where I have found such a thriving and supportive community of poets. Even with all of the nonfiction books I have written, a poetry collection feels like an extra special thing.

Next spring our Ireland pilgrimages are almost full – two pilgrimages and two writing retreats, one of which is a brand new program I am thrilled to be offering in collaboration with two beautiful souls who live here in Ireland as well. Get in touch if you would like to register for the remaining spaces. I will also be traveling back to Seattle to lead a writing retreat (also full) and present at the Spiritual Directors International conference, which I am sure will feel like a coming home on many levels, even though the Pacific Northwest is no longer where I live, it lives in me in many ways. Then the spring will be capped off by leading a poetry retreat in Chartres, France where we will have the opportunity to walk the labyrinth in the cathedral, something I have always dreamed of doing. Please consider joining me there!

Then begins our year of sabbatical, a Jubilee year because it will be our fiftieth year of life for both of us (John and I are born a day apart). More details to come about how that looks for the Abbey (not to worry, email newsletters will continue). In talking with someone last spring about how to plan for the Jubilee year, especially in financial terms, she shared that she hoped my year of planning would be woven through with the spirit of Jubilee itself. And that has definitely been the case as I anticipate what that year of rest and time for focused writing might bring to me. It brings me that much more gratitude for the gift of work to sustain us now.

We are approaching the time of the ancestors. Honoring my own ancestral line continues to be a significant part of my own spiritual practice. Every year we offer a short online retreat to practice this together in community (details here and the early registration discount ends tomorrow). It is rich work, a path of deep healing and opening up to the immense love and support we have behind each of us. I have been calling on my grandmothers and grandfathers to guide me through the fullness of this time and to help me prepare for our sabbatical with wisdom and grace.

October is my favorite month because of the quality of evening light which shimmers golden and radiant as each day comes to a close. I love the autumn for its call to release what does not serve but also to celebrate the harvest of my life. Recently the word “surplus” has been calling to me to sit with it again. Surplus for me means not just keeping my life sustainable in terms of energetic demands, but to seek ways to welcome in an overflowing of energy and capacity to meet the demands of the world.

What are you harvesting right now dear monks? What gifts are being offered back to you after years of experience and dedication? Where are you finding glimpses of the surplus of your life?

With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Photo © Christine Valters Paintner

Call for Submissions: Monk in the World Guest Posts

We welcome you to submit your reflection for possible publication in our Monk in the World guest post series. It is a gift to read how ordinary people are living lives of depth and meaning in the midst of the challenges of real life.

There are so many talented writers and artists in this Abbey community, so this is a chance to share your perspective. The link to the reflection will be included in our weekly newsletter which goes out to thousands of subscribers.

Please follow these instructions carefully:

Please click this link to read a selection of the posts and get a feel for the tone and quality.
Submit your own post of 700-900 words on the general theme of "How do I live as a monk in the world? How do I bring contemplative presence to my work and/or family?" It works best if you focus your reflection on one aspect of your life or a practice you have, or you might reflect on how someone from the monastic tradition has inspired you. We invite reflections on the  practice  of living contemplatively.
Please include a head shot and brief bio written in the third person (50 words max). You are welcome to include 1-2 additional images if they help to illustrate your reflection in meaningful ways.  All images should be your own. Please make sure the file size of each the images is smaller than 1MB. You can resize your image for free here.
We will be accepting submissions between now and December 5th for publication sometime in the winter and spring of 2019 and beyond (depending on the number of submissions).  We reserve the right to make edits to the content as needed (or to request you to make edits) and submitting your reflection does not guarantee publication on the Abbey blog, but we will do our best to include as many of you as possible.
Email your submission  to Melinda by December 5th and include the reflection pasted into the body of your email and attach your photo(s).

We will be back in touch with you at the latest by the middle of January to let you know if your post is accepted, if edits are needed, and/or when we have scheduled your post to appear.

Monk in the World Guest Post: Heidi Marshburn Massey

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Heidi Marshburn Massey's reflection on contradictions.

For me to be a monk in the world means to take contradictory paths,  the chaos of the work world that surrounds me, marrying it with the stillness and the quiet  that my heart longs for.

Daily I remind myself to allow the latter rule the former.

I am learning in the middle of the day, in the midst of busyness, in the swirling never ending emergencies I am faced with, to stop!

Be still.

Breathe.

Centering my scattered thoughts, bringing them back into oneness with the present.  Beginning again, fresh, focused, ready to forge ahead. I am now able to Weave a beautiful tapestry out of the tragedy that often fills my day.

It is a journey that requires a purposefulness of my words, actions and steps. It takes practice, patience and a downpour of God's mercy laced grace.

I find the more I press in, the more I  learn how to retreat into the cell of my heart.  Even in public places, I am able to bring myself back to the reality of being still, quiet and exuding peace.  I am able to let the peace of God take control and overflow.

In that inner cell I am learning how to give myself permission to invite the hard stuff to have its moment, listening, working through it, then bidding it all farewell.

Through this journey to become a monk in the world,  I am also giving my creative, artist self, permission to explore the depths of its flourishing well.

As I put pen to paper allowing ink to flow onto blank pages,  I know each stroke brings a greater awareness of self and the declaration,  I am free!

I discover as I breathe, I allow things to rise to the surface, skimming off the dross, I am able to release it.The pain of the past no longer has permission to keep me fettered. The chaos of the present no longer has a chain to hold me captive

One of the most treasured lessons I am learning from the school of my inner cell, is to breathe in deeply and exhale fully. Freedom is in each moment—in each cycle of breath.

Through each encountered contradiction along the journey, I strive to let the light shine through my  weathered soul. Like the rays of the sun illuminating the many facets of a stained glass window. This is my adventure of  becoming and of being a monk in the world.

"Contradictions"

Solitude and stillness–clarity of mind

Reaching ahead–old things behind

Peace and tranquility–sought after commodity

In the midst of chaos with stresses bombarding

Breathe deeply-exhale fully-breathe deeply-exhale fully

Sleeping trees–appearing dead

Weathered storms–marred and scarred

Gnarled branches–seeming lifeless

Do you have eyes to see beyond skin that covers?

Breathe deeply-exhale fully-breathe deeply-exhale fully

Buds of life springing forth–covering misshapen appendages

Surrounded by green-new growth awakes

New life beginning to abound

Filling the atmosphere-hope can you hear the sound?

Breathe deeply-exhale fully-breathe deeply-exhale fully

Flowers of spring-new life afresh

Never too late–begin again

A new day that dawns Clean slate–ready A fresh start awaits

Mercy and grace redeeming the realm of time and space

Breathe deeply-exhale fully-breathe deeply-exhale fully

Heidi Marshburn Massey is the Director of The Wake County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center in Raleigh NC. Although she is new to the contemplative journey, she has always had a heart for being the hands and feet of Jesus among her fellow travelers.

Celtic Conversations with Sharon Blackie

I am delighted to introduce a new podcast series, Celtic Conversations, inspired by my new book The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred and my time living in Ireland. I am hosting a series of conversations with authors, artists, and guides about Celtic spirituality. So find a cozy space and pour yourself a cup of tea. (Also available at Soundcloud, Stitcher and iTunes).

My guest today is Sharon Blackie and we had a delightful conversation about peregrinatio, the Celtic Otherworld, kinship with animals, the hybrid theology between pagan and Christian traditions, the sacredness of the land, the local nature of Celtic spirituality, the Heroine's journey, and the re-enchantment of the everyday.

Dr. Sharon Blackie is an award-winning writer of fiction and nonfiction, a mythologist with a specialisation in Celtic Studies, and a psychologist who has specialised both in neuroscience and narrative. Her unique approach to working with myth, fairy tales and folklore highlights the insights these traditions can offer us into authentic and meaningful ways of being which are founded on a deep sense of belonging to place, a rootedness in the land we inhabit. In early 2017 she founded The Hedge School: both an online space and a physical location in Connemara, Ireland, for teachings in myth, wild mind and enchantment. Sharon’s word-of-mouth bestselling nonfiction book If Women Rose Rooted offers up a new Heroine’s Journey for this challenging age of social and ecological crisis, Her latest nonfiction book, The Enchanted Life, was published in February 2018. She is now completing a collection of original fairy tales about shapeshifting women, Foxfire, Wolfskin, which will be published in autumn 2019.

Sharon Blackie shared this poem she wrote "Peregrina" to begin our time together:

Peregrina

O mother of the sea

lend me a wave that is strong and true

to carry me from this Age which unbinds me.

I do not need a ship, mother,

but make it a buoyant swell

to bear me up and float me on the sea’s dreaming

then beach me on some lighter shore.

When I land there, give me warp and weft again,

and an urchin quill to remind me

how the prettiest barb can lodge under your skin

and leave you undone.

Only lend me a loom and I will

take up the threads of this unravelled life.

I will weave a braid from three strands of seaweed

I will wind it three times around my finger

I will dig my salt-encrusted hands into the soil

and wed myself to the thirsty

brown roots of a new beginning.

–reprinted from Sharon Blackie's book If Women Rose Rooted: A Journey to Authenticity and Belonging

*Opening music track is an excerpt from Simon DeVoil's song "Water" on his album Heart Medicine (used with kind permission)

Following a Holy Direction ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

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

Dearest Monks, artists, and pilgrims,

Several years ago I had the privilege of leading a retreat on the shores of Cape May, NJ. 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 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. Autumn is the time when the salmon journey back home again up rivers to the place of their own birth.

Autumn is the time of transition, of the earth's turning, with the balance of light and dark in the northern hemisphere tilting toward the dark season and the invitation to release the excess we carry and rest into growing Mystery. It is a season of initiating these great movements across the globe of birds, fish, and mammals following an instinctual call.

I am taken with the mysteries of migration, the inner knowing that rises up in them to embark on a journey, the impulse to swim and fly across great expanses of earth and sea in search of a feeling of rightness that season.

I think of the ancient desert monks who each knew that one day they would have to leave behind the familiar and venture out into the wilderness to seek a space of radical encounter with God. Or the Irish monks who felt called to a particular kind of journey called peregrinatio, which was a pilgrimage for the love of Christ without a destination in mind. The practice was to step into a small boat called a coracle, without oar or rudder, and let the current carry them to the place of their resurrection.

They yielded their own agendas and plans to the current of love, trusting in this deeper wisdom at work in water and wind, on behalf of the One who opens the way before us.

St. Gobnait, one of the early Irish women saints, fled her home to the island of Inisheer, but was told by an angel that this was not her place of resurrection. She was to seek the place of the nine white deers, which led her journey onward to a place she did not know. The place of resurrection is the land where the heart finds its home and soul's deepest dreams come to fruition.

Swans and swallows, whales and salmon make the long arduous journey to give birth to the new lives breaking forth in them. The monks wandered in search of wild places that could break apart their own expectations and judgments, to let the new life being offered to them come forth.

In the Book of Isaiah (48:6-7) we read:

Now I am revealing new things to you, things hidden and unknown to you, created just now, this very moment. Of these things you have heard nothing until now so that you cannot say, Oh yes, I knew this.

In the Christian contemplative tradition, we are invited to rest more deeply in the Great Mystery, to lay aside our images and symbols, and let the divine current carry us deeper, without knowing where, only to trust the impulse within to follow a longing.

As autumn tilts us toward the season of growing darkness, consider this an invitation to yield to the mystery of your own heart's desires. You do not need a map or agenda, simply a willingness to swim in the waters carrying you back home again.

The monks knew the wisdom of embracing a season of unknowing, to wrest from their grip the idols of certainty and security. As mythologist and storyteller Michael Meade says, "a false sense of security is the only kind there is." Of the new things happening you have known nothing until this moment.

Taking flight requires courage to ascend into the unfamiliar and unknown. And it requires a community of kindred souls who affirm the journey isn't completely crazy and there is more awaiting us beyond the borders of our narrow expectations.

The soul's migration demands the long, slow journey in a holy direction, calling us only to follow the impulse of love.

With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Photo © Christine Valters Paintner

Monk in the World Guest Post: Elaine Pope

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Elaine Pope's reflection "Whole."

John Wesley used the expression “going on to perfection.” For him, that meant growing more and more able to love God and love people as Jesus did (1 John 4:12). Christine Valters Painter signs her reflections, “with great and growing love.” I love that phrase, for it sums up for me what a monk in the world’s spiritual journey is all about, learning to love more: more deeply, more authentically, more people, oneself more, creation more often, God always.

Perfection is a daunting word, however, at least to me, and I think to others, as well. I prefer the word “whole.” For me, part of living in the world influenced by the monastic mindset is the quest to become fully and authentically who God created me to be. But being whole is hard to achieve in our North American 21st century culture.

I trained as a scientist and engineer and worked for 30+ years as a researcher in High Tech. I loved it. That life honed my abilities to wonder at the structure, order, variety, and the expanse of God’s creation. However, that was very much a lifestyle that gives preference to the mind. Even my spirituality became skewed. Faith was defined by how I cognitively believed church doctrines. When I retired and went to theological seminary, I discovered that I was not alone in my unbalanced experience of faith. Much of my recent spiritual journey has been reconnecting with my heart and even at gut-level. Faith is now my relationship with Jesus, the Spirit, and the Father. I want to love God with “all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:8, Matt. 22:37). This is not a new struggle, since Scripture describes so clearly the need to love God with emotion, intellect, will and, even body, to love with the whole me. I want to know and feel that God loves me totally, extravagantly, eternally; to be "God’s beloved" (Song of Songs 6:3). I desire to know God and be known with my whole being. I want that to spill over so I can “love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18, Matt. 22:39). That, as I understand it, is what it means to live as a monk in the world.

I have found that experiencing God in the daily, in the ordinary moments of my life, in the rhythms of creation, takes even more discipline and methodical practice than learning about God through studying. Understanding emotionally and spiritually what I experience takes dedicated reflection and the time to do so. Putting together the whole enchilada requires me to view the world holistically, that the separation between sacred and secular is one that we humans have made and is not part of God’s reality. I won’t say that I have become a retreat “junky” but I have found them to be necessary to maintain this very counter-cultural view of the world. God’s Kingdom is found in the communities of faith scattered throughout our nations across the globe. One of God’s miracles is I find I am able to connect deeply, even across continents.

I love the tools that allow me to reconnect with the Spirit’s wisdom already within me. I have been blessed to experience several communities that emphasize the rhythm of spirituality and the need for a personal Rule of Life. Communities offer us the gifts of shared insights, the wisdom of those who walk the path of faith with us. The blogosphere replaces the monastic chapterhouse. Abbey of the Arts has a unique emphasis on re-introducing the inner artist who speaks into the silence of the inner monk. Six months ago, I took my first Abbey of the Arts Online Retreat. The retreat provided the structure and psychological “permission” to slow down and to listen for God’s still small voice in new ways. I’m exploring what I feel about God, as well as what I think about God. One of the new spiritual disciplines that first retreat introduced to me was journaling in poetry. I started writing poetry again after 40 years and find the words flow when I open my mind to them. I picked up watercolor paints after a 20-year hiatus and find mystery dripping from the brush. I wobble and joyfully call it dancing. And I praise God for all good gifts. As I gain comfort with who I am holistically, the hole that opens in my attention span is wide enough for me to fall through into God.

And in God is perfect love. Together in the Abbey of the Arts community, we are seeking to love more by loving more. What I gain from this community I can take into my local congregational community and enhance the ministry I have with them. I think John and Charles Wesley would love the Order of Dancing Monks. I certainly do.

Elaine Pope serves as the Director of Adult Religious Formation for her church and has a private spiritual direction practice. Prior to her current career, Elaine retired from research engineering in the semiconductor industry. She uses her scientific and theological training to explore the global intersections of faith, technology, and society.

Celtic Conversations with Simon De Voil

I am delighted to introduce a new podcast series, Celtic Conversations, inspired by my new book The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred and my time living in Ireland. I am hosting a series of conversations with authors, artists, and guides about Celtic spirituality. So find a cozy space and pour yourself a cup of tea. (Also available at Soundcloud, Stitcher and iTunes).

My guest today is Simon De Voil and we had a delightful conversation about the healing that comes from blessing, lessons from living in community on Iona, witnessing creation, music as ministry, belonging and exile, and boat building.

Simon de Voil is an interfaith/interspiritual minister, sacred musician, youth worker and wooden boat builder. In all these vocations, he uses music and carpentry as a means to help individuals and groups connect sacred presence with everyday life.

In recent years Simon has toured internationally and gained a reputation as a talented singer-songwriter and storyteller; he pairs thoughtful and inspiring lyrics with cracking good tunes, compelling piano melodies, and a rich, tender vocal style. His music explores themes of the inner landscape of the soul, the enchantment of the natural world and a personal journey to follow an unexpected calling.

As an independent ordained minister, Simon leads worship, preaches, facilitates workshops, crafts personalized rituals, and performs weddings, baptisms, funerals and other rites of passage for all people.

A dynamic and talented preacher, public speaker, and musical performer, Simon has shared his unique combination of creative worship, sacred music, and storytelling with universities, community groups, and spiritual gatherings across the US, Australia, and Scotland. His unusual life and music are the focus of the award-winning documentary film ‘Funny Kinda Guy.’

You can find out more about Simon and hear his music at www.simondevoil.com

You can support him through his Patreon page at this link>>

Simon shared this beautiful blessing to begin our time together:

 

*Opening music track is an excerpt from Simon DeVoil's song "Water" on his album Heart Medicine (used with kind permission)

Feast of Saint Francis ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

St. Francis at the Corner Pub

Approaching the door, you can already

hear his generous laughter.

He stands on the bar upside down for a moment

to get a new perspective on things,

a flash of polka-dotted boxers

as his brown robe cascades over his head,

sandaled toes wiggling in the air in time with

a fiddle playing in the corner.

Rain falls heavily in the deepening darkness

and he orders a round of drinks

despite his vow of poverty and the single silver coin

in his pocket, multiplied by the last Guinness poured.

Nothing like a good glass of wine, he gleefully says,

heavy Italian accent echoing through the room,

he holds it up to the overhead light, pausing for a moment

lost in its crimson splendor, breathes deeply.

At ease among fishmongers and plumbers,

widows and college students, and the

single mother sneaking out for a moment

of freedom from colic, cries, and diapers.

As the wind blows rain sideways, in come the

animals, benvenuti to pigeons, squirrels, seagulls, crows,

and the neighborhood cat balding from mange,

a chorus of yowls, coos, caws, and meows arising,

all huddle around him. No one objects to the growing

menagerie, just glad to be dry and warm.

He clinks glasses all around, no one left out.

—Christine Valters Paintner

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims,

Above is my poem inspired by the witness of St. Francis. He has always struck me as one of the most earthy and approachable saints, someone you might run into at a pub and would make you feel like you were old friends.

In my book Illuminating the Way: Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics I explore Francis as an expression of the archetype of the holy fool.

There are many aspects of Francis’ foolishness, from stripping his clothing publicly, appearing naked in the church, renouncing his wealth, befriending all creatures, and calling his community of brothers “fools for Christ” reflecting the words of St. Paul above. He tames a wolf and during the Crusades he walks unarmed across the Egyptian desert into the Sultan’s camp where he had every reason to expect his own death, a foolish act indeed.

We are always being called to new revelation and to see the world from another perspective. The inner Fool is the one who helps us to see things anew and to dismantle the accepted wisdom of our times. Paul also writes “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Cor. 1:20b) Productivity, striving, consumption, and speed are some of the false gods of our western culture. A life committed to following the Divine path is one which makes the world’s wisdom seem foolish, but conversely, the world looks upon those with spiritual commitment often as the ones who are “fools.”

This can be a challenging archetype for some of us as we often try to do everything possible so as not to look foolish. However, this archetype is the one which helps to subvert the dominant paradigm of acceptable ways of thinking and living.  The author GK Chesterton, in his book about Francis of Assisi, explores the idea of Francis seeing the world upside down, which is really seeing it right side up, because we get a totally new perspective. There is a subversive act of truth-telling through the Fool’s humor and playfulness.

The Fool risks mockery by stepping out of socially acceptable roles and asks where are you willing to look foolish? Through the fool we find vicarious release for much we have repressed in ourselves. If we have always lived according to the “rules” or been overly concerned with how things look, the Fool invites us to break open and play. The Fool encourages us to laugh at ourselves, reminding us that humor and humility have the same root as humus, which means earthiness.

We activate the fool when we do something that others have a hard time understanding or accepting. I remember when John and I first began our move to Europe and we sold off or gave away our possessions, various family members and friends couldn’t understand different things we had let go of – how could we release our library of treasured books? How could I burn years of journals? How could John quit his secure job? To some, our choices appeared “foolish” because they didn’t fit their way of thinking about how you move through life. To others, they seemed liberating precisely because it was a different path chosen.

How does Francis call you to your own path of holy foolishness? What have you been longing to do but afraid of looking “foolish” to others?

With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Dancing monk icon by Marcy Hall at Rabbit Room Arts

Christine interviewed on Radiant Wellness and The Soul-Directed Life

This week I had the delight of being interviewed on two different radio shows about my new book The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred.

Tune into The Soul-Directed Life to hear me talk about encircling prayer, seasonal rhythms, and three essential things and to hear my answers to Janet's three intriguing questions about prayer at the end of our conversation.

Tune into Radiantly You! to hear me talk about the gifts of autumn and some of the stories of the Irish monks, including St. Gobnait and her dream and St. Kevin and the blackbird.