CREATIVE WRITING: POETRY CHALLENGE Week 1 [MAKING MANIFEST] 7.5.14

* I admit this enthusiasm forms an integral part  of the current writing adventure I'm pursuing. An online FB group of members from various world locations,
practicing the discipline of creative writing  with host, Sandra Heska King, Dave Harrity, and his book,
MAKING MANIFEST:
 On Faith, Creativity, and the Kingdom at Hand
* Each day's prompt follows excellent contemplative thoughts to inspire and inspirit a deeper self revelation that challenges thought and creativity -
new ways of seeing and being  - then an exercise to draw deeply from the inner well.
* Our final day of this first week culminated in a prompt to  create 10 lines of poetry.
Ten lines from words we'd created during the week's writing. Words that had spoken some deeper heart revelation. In the spirit of carrying
'the spirit of the child into old age', here's my response to the title given us ~ *  'Awakening'
You speak with clarity of thought, word, heart that threefold cord braided to understanding revelation discernment Spirit's clarity
*   Appreciation to Sandra Heska King for initiating, hosting the group, and keeping us focused with creative daily posts. To Dave Harrity for inspiring with his intrepid spirit ~ challenging our creativity, enlarging our perspectives, inspiriting our faith
~ Thank You! * Pick up your copy of Dave Harrity's book if you're a creative  looking for exceptional writing challenges and deeper life revelation .

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LINKED WITH ~
*Sandra's Focusing. Still.*
*Emily's Imperfect Prose*
*Thought Provoking Thursdays*
*Weekend Brew*
*Essential Fridays*
*Faith Filled Fridays*

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 .

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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 *

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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 -

Fall into Reading Read-a-thon - Poetry Day 23.9.13

 Day 2 of our 1st week of Autumn Read-a-Thon

Here's today's challenge from the sisters: "Today’s challenge is a Fall poem. There is so much inspiration for poetry in the fall, and  we know that readers are especially creative people so we expect some good ideas."
Confident, aren't they?
Anything inspiring you'd like to share?

My contribution is in response to
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's inspiring quote.
* Thinking mine would go something like this -

the bush afire

the holy ground

with shoes removed

my heart resounds

to autumn's glory that surrounds…

*
As to my reading ?  Having finished 2 books yesterday,  I am still ahead of my goal being 1/2 way through book 3,  Mary Manners, Tender Mercies, highschool sweeties who fallout, reconnecting 6 years later via a fundraising auction... {contemporary romantic reunion in the making}

* And how is your Fall into Reading going today?
*

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24 hr readathon ...

3 a.m. posting of art that exemplifies what i'm currently reading ~

i'm keeping alert by simplifying my reading with poetry. 

Chris Roe's "In Search of Silence".

thought this apropos...

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 !