The Soul's Slow Ripening 16.12.18

The SOUL'S SLOW RIPENING

12 Celtic Practices Seeking the Sacred

~

~ by Christine Valters Paintner
Released September 2018
~ Unique and useful insights shared for our growth spiritually as we pursue our faith life and journey.  Ms Paintner is adept at instructing new thought and practice, gently and creatively.  Which is essential to our comprehension and willingness to interpret life changes.
~ Moving in these new directions of discernment the creative responses inspired by our
"soul's slow ripening" to sweetness is pure art.. 
The Celtic ways and practices presented resonate at deeper and creative levels than a sole focus of the intellectual discernment.
~ I'm delighted to have these options and examples from early saints.
 As well as learning to hear and heed the seasonal calls and rhythms of God's Spirit.  Invitations to themed contemplative walks,  inspiring writing, art, poetry
 all influenced by God's creation in landscape and seasons,
 will undoubtedly influence a new way of seeing and being.
~ I, for one, am grateful. 
And as a spiritual director, soul friend,
this also is an exploration of benefit to the blessing of others.    ~



~*~ FIND MORE FHC on BOOK DEPOSITORY | PINTEREST | TWITTER | GOOGLE+ | GOODREADS | FACEBOOK | NETWORKED BLOGS | LIBRARYTHING | Follow |

Tweet

WHAT IS YOUR WORD - 2015?

Having just returned from my own desert study time, I am inspired to accept this year's Abbey of the Arts invitation from Christine and offer it to you ...

In ancient times, wise men and women fled out into the desert to find a place where they could be fully present to God and to their own inner struggles at work within them. The desert became a place to enter into the refiner's fire and be stripped down to one's holy essence. The desert was a threshold place where you emerged different than when you entered.

 One tradition being revived is to ask for a word –  something on which to ponder for many days, weeks, months, sometimes a whole lifetime. This practice is connected to lectio divina, where we approach the sacred texts with the same request – "what is Your word for me" we ask – something to nourish me, challenge me, a word I can wrestle with and grow into.  The word that has the potential to transform me.

• What is your word for the year ahead? A word which contains within it a seed of invitation to cross a new threshold in your life?
• 
  Need some help in the process?  Christine offers a gift of 12 days of enotes and
  spiritual practice that inspirit us to recognize our 'word' for the year ahead and to allow it to deepen  within us.  Participation is free.  Signup available here.

*
FIND MORE FHC on PINTEREST | TWITTER | GOOGLE+ | GOODREADS | FACEBOOK | NETWORKED BLOGS | LIBRARYTHING *
Tweet
SHARED WITH - * 3D Lessons for Life * * Little Things Thursday * * Tania's Let's Talk About... * * Faith Filled Fridays* * Sincerely Paula * * Thursday Favorite Things * * Fabulous Friday * *Share What You Know*

INVITATION TO POETRY & PHOTOGRAPHY: SACRED ORDINARY 22.5.14

Welcome to Poetry Party #78!

Christine Valters Paintner of Abbey of the Arts online, selects an image (the photo above is by member Anneclaire LeRoyer) suggests a theme/title and invites us to respond with our own poem and images. 

How might you bring reverence to an ordinary moment of your day through the gift of poem-writing? How might you see the sacred in the mundane? ..to yield to the sacred in the most ordinary of moments. {click to tweet}

Or...

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

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

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

*
Follow the links to add yours at Abbey of the Arts or include your link in the comments below that we might visit and share your sacred in the everyday poetry and/or photos.
* May your day be blessed with many such moments!



* SHARED WITH ~ * -THOUGHT PROVOKING THURSDAYS- -A LITTLE R+ R- -SINCERELY, PAULA- - CREATE WITH JOY- -THRIVING THURSDAYS- -THURSDAY FAVOURITE THINGS- -WORDS of LIFE WEDNESDAYS- -GROWING TOGETHER- -HOMEMAKING PARTY- -ADORNED FROM ABOVE- -MISSIONAL WOMEN- -ESSENTIAL FRIDAYS- -SAY G'DAY PARTY- -SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS- * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Find and follow FHC online:   @_eHope - Goodreads - Facebook - 
Pinterest
GFC bottom of page ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~
Tweet *

SPRING: HOPE's DIVINE POSSIBILITY 23.4.14

In the Hebrew scriptures the promise of God's abundance is often conceived of
as blossoming in the desert.
In that harsh landscape, a flower bursting forth from the dry land is a symbol of
divine generosity, fruitfulness, and hope.   * #Hope is a stance of radical openness to the God of newness and #possibility. {tweetable}
* When we #hope, we acknowledge that God has an imagination far more expansive than we do. {tweetable}
* The fertility of spring speaks of an abundantly creative God who is at the source of the potent life force beating at the heart of the world. Created in God's image, we are called to participate in this generous creativity ourselves. Our own blossoming leads us to share our gifts in service to others. * Take time this week to meditate with gratitude on a flower, appreciating all of its qualities of beauty, how it simply is what it was created to be. Allow yourself to fill with joyful gratitude for the gifts of the earth. Open yourself to experience the fullness of this flower and all of the ways God delights in the beauty of blossoms.

Then shift your focus from the flower to yourself. Take this sense of wonder and awe at the beauty of the flower and imagine how God gazes with delight on the beauty of who you are.
*
What aspects of your being can you imagine God relishing? What are the longings inside of you God is asking you to embrace?[Tweet]

Rest in this awareness of the joy and delight of God in your own beautiful blossoming for several minutes. Notice what new longings it stirs in you.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.~Marcel Proust [Tweet]

Perhaps you'd like to share your exploration and discoveries.
Please accept this as your personal Invitation to Poetry and/or Photography .

*

*

With April comes a new Invitation for Contemplation. In the northern hemisphere, spring is slowly arriving with birdsong and blooming. Wherever we live on this beautiful planet, we can tend to the flowering that happens within after a season of fallowness. The outer seasons become a mirror for our inner experience.
The text with which we are praying this month is from the Hebrew wisdom book the
Song of Songs, which the ancient rabbis called "the holy of holies."
"Arise and bloom" is our theme,
tending to the ways our hearts and souls are breaking forth into blossom
after a season of fallowness and stillness.

I invite you to set aside some time this week to pray with the text below.  See these Lectio Divina guidelines.

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

For see, the winter is past,

the rains are over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth,

the time of pruning the vines has come,

and the song of the dove is heard in our land.

The fig tree puts forth its figs,

and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.

Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,

and come!   —Song of Songs 2:11-13

After you have prayed with the text (and feel free to pray with it more than once – 

St. Ignatius wrote about the deep value of repetition in prayer, especially when something feels particularly rich) spend some time journaling what insights arise for you.

~ from  Christine Valters Paintner -
  Abbey of the Arts *

* Find and follow FHC online:
@_eHope - Goodreads - Facebook - Pinterest -

GFC bottom of page

*

Tweet *

SHARED WITH ~
- HollyGerth -
- Thought Provoking Thursday -
- Essential Fridays -
- Make a Difference Mondays - - Woman to Woman -
- Hope in Every Season -
- Faith Filled Friday -
- Sunday Community -
- Weekend Brew -

- Natasha in Oz Say G'day -

LECTIO DIVINA: CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER 15.4.14

How to Practice Lectio Divina 
*

First Movement – Lectio: Settling & Shimmering
Begin by finding a comfortable position where you can remain alert and yet also relax your body. Bring your attention to your breath and allow a few moments to become centered. If you find yourself distracted at any time, gently return to the rhythm of your breath as an anchor for your awareness. Allow yourself to  settle into this moment and become fully present.  Read your selected scripture passage or other sacred text once or twice through slowly and listen for a word or phrase that feels significant right now, is capturing your attention even if you don’t know why.  Gently repeat this word to yourself in the silence.  * Second Movement – Meditatio: Savoring & Stirring 
Read the text again and then allow the word or phrase which caught your attention in the first movement  to spark your imagination. Savor the word or phrase with all of your senses, notice what smells, sounds,  tastes, sights, and feelings are evoked. Then listen for what images, feelings, and memories are stirring, welcoming them in,
and then savoring and resting into this experience.  *
Third Movement – Oratio: Summoning & Serving
Read the text a third time and then listen for an invitation rising up from your experience of prayer so far.  Considering the word or phrase and what it has evoked for you in memory, image, or feeling, what is the invitation?  This invitation may be a summons toward a new awareness or action. 
* Fourth Movement – Contemplatio: Slowing & Stilling 
Move into a time for simply resting in God and allowing your heart to fill with gratitude for God’s presence in this time of prayer. Slow your thoughts and reflections even further and sink into the experience of stillness. Rest in the presence of God and allow yourself to simply be. Rest here for several  minutes. Return to your breath if you find yourself distracted.  * Closing 
Gently connect with your breath again and slowly bring your awareness back to the room, moving from inner experience to outer experience. Give yourself some time of transition between these moments of contemplative depth and your everyday life.  Consider taking a few minutes to
journal about what you experienced in your prayer. 

*



~~~~ * ~~~~
© Christine Valters Paintner – excerpted from Lectio Divina—
The Sacred Art: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer
(SkyLight Paths Publishing)
– feel free to share this with attribution  www.AbbeyoftheArts.com

*












Find and follow FHC online:
@_eHope - Goodreads - Facebook - Pinterest - GFC *



Tweet

Invitation to Photography Party: Springtime

Welcome to the Abbey of the Arts'
"Springtime" Photo Party!

From Christine Valters Paintner's
 theme and Photo Party invite to respond with images.

For see, the winter is past,

the rains are over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth,

the time of pruning the vines has come,

and the song of the dove is heard in our land.

The fig tree puts forth its figs,

and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.

Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,

and come!

–Song of Songs 2:11-13

*This is what my today ~ March 18th ~ looked like for me at FHC !

Springtime begins in the northern hemisphere on Wednesday,
the time of great flowering on the earth offering hope of
new possibilities emerging.

This week, go on a photo pilgrimage,
holding the start of springtime in your heart, and
notice what images are shimmering in the world around you.

(For my southern hemisphere friends, you are welcome to also share images
of the arrival of autumn,
or the ways you see signs of spring even in the midst of the season of letting go)

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

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

How to participate:

1. Go to the Flickr Group I have created. You need a free Flickr account first
(go to the Flickr home page and click "Sign up now.") 
When you go to the link it will ask you to join the group first before posting. 
Share up to five of your images in response to the theme.

2. Leave a comment at Christine's blog post to let us know
you have joined the party and
what your Flickr profile name is
(you must include this to be entered into the prize drawing).
For Christine's newest book to be released March 25th!



3. Please post the invitation on your blog or Facebook page 

and encourage others to come join the party!

On Friday, March 22nd – Christine will draw a name at random
from those who participate and the winner will receive
a space in one of my upcoming online class
 Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Contemplative Practice (April 28-June 15, 2013) and
 a copy of my new book {as above}which the class accompanies.

Spring and all its flowers now

joyously break their vow of silence.

It is time for

celebration, not for

lying low.

–Hafiz

I've joined the party and thought you might enjoy 

the creative expression offered in doing so as well...

Let me know in comments so I can look for your photo posts !!

Tweet

Invitation to Photo Party: Your 'Word' for 2013

Welcome to the Abbey Photo Party!

photo source ~ Christine Valtners Paintner

Christine at Abbey of the Arts invites you into some creative exploration 

with the word[s] which have chosen you for this year. 

( share yours here if you haven't already and enter to win one of several wonderful prizes).

In the free 12-day online mini-retreat I offer to newsletter subscribers

(click here to subscribe)

I invite you to go on a photo pilgrimage holding your word for 2013

in your hearts and noticing what images are shimmering in the world around you.

You can share images you already have which illustrate your word,

but I encourage you also to go for a walk with the theme in mind and see what you discover.

You are also welcome to post other art you created inspired by your word for the year –

collages are powerful as are paintings and drawings. 

See what stirs your imagination!

How to participate:

1. Go to the Flickr Group Christine has created. [You need a free Flickr account first]. 

When you go to the link it will ask you to join the group first before posting. 

Share as many as five of your images in response to the theme. 

When you post your photo please include your word as the title 2. Leave a comment HERE  to let us know you have joined the party and what your Flickr profile name is.

3. Please post the invitation on your blog or Facebook page and encourage others to come join the party!

If you haven't yet,

share your word over at this post for a chance to win some wonderful prizes

and join in with the Abbey community.

  

Tweet

Your Transformative 'Word' for 2013 ?

Have you discovered your Word for 2013 ?

In ancient times, wise men and women fled out into the desert to find a place where they could be fully present to God and to their own inner struggles at work within them. The desert became a place to enter into the refiner's fire and be stripped down to one's holy essence. The desert was a threshold place where you emerged different than when you entered.

Many people followed these ammas and abbas, seeking their wisdom and guidance for a meaningful life. One tradition was to ask for a word –  this word or phrase would be something on which to ponder for many days, weeks, months, sometimes a whole lifetime. This practice is connected to lectio divina, where we approach the sacred texts with the same request – "give me a word" we ask – something to nourish me, challenge me, a word I can wrestle with and grow into.  The word which chooses us has the potential to transform us.

• What is your word for the year ahead? A word which contains within it a seed of invitation to cross a new threshold in your life?

A free 12-day online mini-retreat to help your word choose you. . .

This year  Christine of Abbey of the Arts is offering all Abbey newsletter subscribers a gift: a free 12-day online mini-retreat with a suggested practice for each day to help your word choose you and to deepen into your word once it has found you.

Sign up here and you can start your mini-retreat today. Once you subscribe you will receive a confirmation email with access to the mini-retreat content
(and you are free to unsubscribe at any time). 

Subscribe to the Abbey newsletter for your free gift.
Share the love with others ~ invite them to join us and participate... 

When you subscribe to regular Abbey soul nourishment, you join more than 5000 others and receive regular reflections on the integration of contemplative practice, creative expression, and the wisdom of the seasons straight to your in-box, as well as updates about new Abbey offerings.

When you subscribe to the newsletter you will have an opportunity to participate in a free 7 day e-course in transformative living through contemplative and expressive arts.  It is Christine's gift to you as a way of saying thank you for visiting the Abbey of the Arts. 

water, wind, earth & fire ...

having won the Autumn Blessings poetry party from Abbey of the Arts, today i received Christine's autographed prize gift of her new book *Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements*.  many thanks, Christine!
i'm already more than pleased in the reading. how about sharing an appetizer with me?
*The element of wind invites us to "open our souls to Being," which means opening ourselves to a God who flows in directions we cannot predict. This element invites us to a radical posture of surrender in releasing our hold on our own plans and making room for God to blow us in the most life-giving direction. As a metaphor for God, wind reminds us that God's ways are not our ways. The invitation of wind requires of us a detachment from our own longing to control the direction of our lives and a simultaneous surrender to Spirit to allow ourselves to be carried to places of growth and newness.*
hungry? i know i am. looking forward to much more...
Bobbie Bonk of Spiritual Directors International ~ *Encountering the four elements in one place is exactly what Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire does, inviting the reader to become a pray-er who enjoys Paintner’s collection of scripture, poetry, wisdom, and prayer.*
Christine Valters Paintner is a writer, artist, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and teacher. She earned her PhD in Christian Spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and her professional status as Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator (REACE) from the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA.org). She lives out her commitment as a Benedictine Oblate in the heart of Seattle with her husband and dog. More about Christine and her website Abbey of the Arts which also includes her blog.
as covered in an earlier post, Christine's Monk Manifesto has a growing list of members.  Monk Manifesto ~ Stop by to read seven principles for being a Monk in the World and to sign up for a free 7-day e-course.

poetry party winner ...

 

Abbey of the Arts said...

*You won the drawing for this week's Poetry Party! Please send me your snail mail. Thanks for the beautiful offering.*

WoW !  i did NOT expect that email!  but i'm hugely pleased and grateful ~ 

i just had a peek over at Christine's blog - *The winner of this week's drawing for a signed copy of

Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements is Faith, Hope, and Cherrytea.* 

yes, it seems completely verified !  and i'm entirely blessed.  Thank YOU, Christine!  both for the opportunity and the gift prize! 
may this inspirit you in your various blog opps of participation whether photo, poetry, song, or story.  someone does actually win and perhaps, like me, when they least expect it! 

ongoing poetry contributions sought at Abbey of the Arts.  keep a lookout for poetry party #48 !