Category: Rule of St. Benedict
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I Wrote a Book – It’s Called “Sacred Balance”
Dear friends, I have some good news to share. On October 13th my book, Sacred Balance: Aligning Body and Spirit Through Yoga and the Benedictine Way, published by Broadleaf Books will be released! I’ve spent the better part of the last 18 months writing, and then recovering from writing, this book. Studded with illustrations of basic…
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A Pandemic, A Poem, and a Pose
Hello dear friends, There are pieces of paper all over my house, stuck in the desk drawer and various books and sections in my planner with short lines, notes to myself about some profound essay I want to write about this pandemic. There’s the personal angle, “I don’t want to go back to normal. Normal…
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The Season of Many Hats
The other day I was reading through Christine Valter Paintner’s latest book The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred and pulling quotes for her daily emails when I came across this gem. “Out of all the many things calling for attention: Which one is it the season for?” In the season…
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The Race
I commit to a lifetime of ongoing conversion and transformation, recognizing that I am always on a journey with both gifts and limitations. ~ Christine Valters Paintner, Monk Manifesto Rex Stout, author of the Nero Wolf mystery series, was a genius. Once a word was down on paper he never changed it. For one who…
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The Wasp
A few weeks ago a Queen Paper Wasp started hanging around my kitchen window. I stood at my sink and watched her work. First she affixed a bit of wasp glue and let it create an ever so elegant drip, the point of which expands daily. She’s building a nest. I know I should get…
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Death Meditation
“Anything that has a birth has a death, and I am no exception.” ~ The Book of Joy In Chapter 4 of the Rule, Benedict writes, “Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die.” Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. I will go to church and the priest will…
Melinda Emily Thomas 