June 2011 Newsletter

This newsletter is published monthly by the Mystical Order of the White Rose, a multi-faith devotional and spiritual support organization. We support-- and share information about-- mystical, monastic, contemplative and creative ways of living. We encourage prayer, the reading of sacred scripture(s), lectio divina, meditation, journaling, solitude, fasting, silence, sacred movement (dance, mudras, yoga), kindness, hospitality, worship, simplicity, creativity, active involvement in spiritual and religious communities, and loving service to others. You can view past issues here and you can subscribe to the newsletter by clicking here.

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THEME: New Monasticism

Table of Contents

-- Admin Update by Cynthia Kiteley Lee

-- The Mystical Order of the White Rose and New Monasticism by Cynthia Kiteley Lee

-- Post Modern Monastery Blog Post

-- A Brief History of the Role of Monasteries during the Dark Ages in Europe (after the Fall of the Roman Empire)

-- Speaking of Empire by Arundhati Roy

-- Quotation: "As the planet swirls...." by Daniel Pinchbeck

-- Quotation: "There is something immensely romantic ...." by Simon Cross

-- Quotation: "Could it be that in the postmodern, pick-and-choose spiritual supermarket...." by Ian Bradley

-- Some New Monasticism Communities

-- June Quotations for Gardeners, Walkers and Lovers of the Green Way compiled by Karen & Mike Garofalo

-- Links of Interest

-- Multi-Faith, Multi-Media Devotionals for June 2011

Admin Update

After almost a year of intensive effort and intense focus on another nonprofit organization I founded and administer (the Christian Home Business Association, Inc.), I am now able to focus on other undertakings. These include making some changes in connection with the Mystical Order of the White Rose (MOWR).

The first new development is that I have hired the talented graphic artist Claudia Beck to create a unique logo for MOWR. I am very grateful to David J. Bookbinder for allowing me limited use of his gorgeous White Rose mandala on our website template. I believe this agreement took place back in 2008, in the early days of MOWR's existence. I encourage you to visit David's Facebook Flower Mandalas site at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/flowermandalas.

I will be reviewing the MOWR logo designs this week and hope to be able to select a final design. Once the logo design is finalized, we will proceed to use it in a variety of ways, including on the MOWR website's template, pendants, lapel pins, T-shirts, prints and more.

I will also be creating a "Rule" for MOWR and developing devotional materials for those who wish to establish a closer and more committed relationship with MOWR, as associates or, in the case of several associates in the same geographical area, as a branch of MOWR. I have not yet decided whether to offer these devotional materials solely through the Internet or whether to publish hard copies as well.

A new MOWR blog will be created using the new logo and the blog "optimizing" skills of Claudia Beck and Courtney Chowning.

Updates on these projects will be included in the monthly MOWR newsletter.

Bright Blessings,

Cynthia

The Mystical Order of the White Rose and New Monasticism

by Cynthia Kiteley Lee

As the founder and administrator of the Mystical Order of the White Rose (MOWR), I feel it would be useful to discuss MOWR's place in the larger community--and movement--of new monasticism.

MOWR is not the only monastic, non-residential community that fits within the larger category of new monasticism. Yes, a non-residential, dispersed monastic community that communicates primarily through the Internet is obviously a very new form of monasticism. MOWR is distinctive in that it embraces and celebrates a multi-faith perspective on personal and collective spirituality.

Other new monasticism communities, writings and organizations are through and through Jesus-centric and Christian-identified. New monasticism is and will remain a modern--or post-modern -expression of Christianity.

Another distinctive aspect of MOWR is its use of secular poetry and prose and mystical poetry and prose from a variety of spiritual traditions in its devotional material and publications.

My vision is to offer the richness of mystical, monastic, contemplative living to the many rather than the few, and to provide resources that support contemplative, monastic and creative ways of living.

I want MOWR to be a community that people from many different spiritual paths and many walks of life will find comfortable and nourishing.

Here is a comment featured on the MOWR home page with the final sentence in boldface for emphasis:

"I feel that I have found a sanctuary of sorts with the Mystical Order of the White Rose community. While it honors and shares wisdom teachings from many religious and spiritual traditions, it’s perfectly okay that I don’t have one particular religious or spiritual box that I fit neatly into. It’s rare and refreshing to connect with a spiritual community that doesn’t want or expect me to adopt a certain spiritual identity or way of thinking and doing things. The focus is more on universals–like prayer, meditation, mindfulness, kindness, inner peace and service–rather than particulars. Those are left to the individual." - Cliff Biel

Focus On Universals

Here's another home page comment that illustrates this aspect of MOWR:

"A cyber-monastery is a weird concept in a way, but it’s cool too. And I like the White Rose symbol. It gets past the whole God, Goddess, Jesus, Buddha thing. You could be a total agnostic or a Jedi Knight and yet still be a true monk and spiritual warrior in the Mystical Order of the White Rose."

D.W.S.

There are many people who are not affiliated with any religion who, all on their own, have developed a mystical, contemplative way of life that incorporates many elements of monastic living. There are many artists and scholars in this group. Others are powerfully drawn to mystical, monastic and contemplative ways of life but are not willing to become Christian as "the price of admission" to this lifestyle, and therefore lack the supportive structures and community that both traditional and modern Christian monastics are blessed with in abundance. MOWR's lack of identification as a Christian, Wiccan, New Age, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Native American or Aboriginal/Shamanic organization enables it to provide a very wide web of connection and support to mystics, monastics, contemplatives, creatives and, yes, spiritual mavericks and "misfits" as well.

The Future of Spiritual Communities in the West

The history of monasticism shows that, in the Christian West, monastic movements spring up during periods of cultural crisis and widespread spiritual corruption and moral bankruptcy. I would include New Monasticism in this category.

A significant number of political and financial analysts claim that the American "Empire," like the Roman Empire and British Empire before it, has reached a passed its peak and is now in its decline and fall. Many conservative Christians perceive contemporary society as "Babylon," because of the decadent, Godless nature of the Babylonian Empire depicted in the Bible. Some radicals and liberals view the "American Empire," or a larger multi-national Empire as oppressive and corrupt.

In the challenging years and decades ahead, it will be interesting to see if online and offline communities of people who share a common spiritual vision will play an important role in the shaping of a new, post-Empire culture.

Post-Modern Monastery

Another woman rejected by a Benedictine monastery suggested we need a "post-modern" community. That sounded good, or at least interesting, but what does it mean?

Wikipedia first notes that the term “post-modern” defies easy definition, then says post-modern expression:

    * Is a reaction against grand, absolute values, & establishments.
    * Accepts that all communication contains myth, metaphor, cultural bias and political content.
    * Challenges the legitimacy of knowledge and identity.
    * Is based on personal experience and individually created meaning.
    * Often uses parody, satire, self-reference and wit.
    * Replaces dominant power centers with cultural pluralism and profound interconnection.
    * Denies absolute, original referents in favor of inter-referential representations.

Hmmmmmm…

What would a post-modern monasticism look like?

O.k. Here are some features of post-modern art and possible monastic community equivalents.

P-M Art
Dissolves distinctions between fine art and craft

P-M Monasticism
Dissolves distinctions between lay and professed. Realizes we are all ordinary schlepers in one and the same boat.

P-M Art
Uses any and all material as media

P-M Monasticism
Plays creatively with organizational & ritual forms... not to mention vows and promises, perhaps in the spirit of Rumi "Even if you have broken your vow a hundred times, come, yet again, come."

P-M Art
Both challenges and freely expresses cultural identity

P-M Monasticism
Equally honors multi-faith and tradition-centered practice

P-M Art
Holds a fearless and searching mirror to cultural norms

P-M Monasticism
Makes no assumptions on the “proper” interpretation of monastic practices, openly sharing personal experience and responses, without judgment.

copyright R. Elena Tabachnick, April 2007
Posted by R. Elena Tabachnick at 3:04 PM 2 comments Labels: Monastery of No Particular Religion Links to this post

http://seekerswanted.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html

A Brief History of the Role of Monasteries During the "The Dark Ages" in Europe (After the Fall of the Roman Empire)

A case can be made that monasteries almost single-handedly saved western civilization. After centuries of civil war and corruption the Roman Empire slipped away into history when Odoacer deposed the last Roman Emperor in 476AD. Barbarian hordes swept over the west and razed the last vestiges of this once mighty empire, squabbling over its territories and scattered riches. Europe entered what is commonly called 'The Dark Ages.

Most major city centers lay in ruins, however, monasteries, because they were remote and hard to access, remained and within them were retained the culture and book knowledge lost everywhere else. Monks relentlessly copied and recopied Greek and Roman manuscripts as well as holy books, thus keeping the kernel of future civilization alive. The monasteries also served as the vanguard of future civilization, for when a monastery was founded, people naturally flocked around it to enjoy its spiritual and material benefits, and very often, this served as the nucleus of a budding town - not a few cities came out of such humble beginnings. Mona steries were often check points for travelers, forts in times of conflict, distribution centers in times of famine, hospitals in times of sickness, neutral grounds for conflicting parties to voice grievances and make pacts as well as being bastions of knowledge and skill.

Certain orders of monks were missionary in spirit and it was they who went out to conquer the barbarians with religion rather than the sword. Through a long organic process, monks actually were heavily responsible for making The Enlightenment possible by civilizing the barbarian tribes whose progeny, in forgotten centuries later, would ironically claim the Church was barbaric. If you ask a Catholic, they call the Dark Ages "The Golden Age of the Church" because the Church acted as the sole light in that dark time, and the monks played a huge role, both strong and resolute, in bringing Faith and civilization back from the brink of extinction in the west.

What is often forgotten is that monks preserved knowledge, were inventors of rudimentary machinery, many alcoholic beverages and types of cuisine, basic science, preserved language and knowledge, tutored pagan chieftains who would begin the royal lineage of kings and the lords of established realms, encouraged agriculture and land development, re-established Latin as a universal language and made connections with one another, thus laying the ground work for a new system of European unity. Reading and writing was not seen as it is today, but was as much a tool as a plane was to a carpenter and a plow to a farmer; the oral transmission of knowledge and traditions was the common way of doing things.

Centuries of struggling for basic survival culminated in a slow recovery that finally bore fruit: civilization gradually reemerged.

Source: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_were_monks_and_monasteries_important_in_the_Middle_Ages

Speaking of Empire...

At the World Social Forum in Brazil, the Indian writer Arundhati Roy was asked to speak on “How to confront Empire?”

Just as her novel The God of Small Things grabbed millions of readers the world over, so her speech drew a growing crowd, as she asked: “Does ‘Empire’ mean the U. S. Government (and its European satellites), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, and multinational corporations? Or is it something more that that? In many countries, Empire has sprouted … some dangerous byproducts –nationalism, religious bigotry, fascism and, of course terrorism. All these march arm in arm with the project of corporate globalization.”

“It is a myth, she said that the free market breaks down national barriers. The ‘free’ market does not threaten national sovereignty, it undermines democracy. To win it’s fight to corner all our resources," she argued, "corporate globalization needs governments that do what they’re told, courts that “pretend to dispense justice and a press that pretends to be free.”

What can we do in the face of such force? "We can," she said, “come up with a million ways of becoming a collective pain in the ass. Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer, relentlessness and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different form the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe. The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling; their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons their notion of inevitability. remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day I can hear her breathing.”

As the planet swirls through rapidly increasing change and as the old materialistic perspective enters its endgame, people are either choosing to numb out in disbelief and fear, or, in a growing number of cases, rub their sleepy waking eyes to see through the confusion toward a new world perspective founded on clarity of vision, peace, understanding, and most importantly, love.

- Daniel Pinchbeck

Source: http://www.greatmystery.org

Quotations for Gardeners, Walkers, and Lovers of the Green Way Poems, Quotes, Folklore, Myths, Customs, Holidays, Traditions, Verses Celebrations, Sayings, Poetry, Quips, Lore, Links, Recommended Reading, Gardening Chores for the Month of June -- Compiled by Karen and Mike Garofalo

Please click here to view this garden quotations, images, poetry and more.

There is something immensely romantic, idealistic and utopian in the idea of monasticism. There is very little romantic, idealistic or utopian about cleaning toilets which others have used, finding your car insurance has doubled because you've moved to the wrong side of town, or realizing you no longer have enough money to buy your children the Christmas presents you would like to. But today, to choose to follow Jesus in the ways of the monastics is to pick up your cross, to prefer sacrifice over comfort, and to know that what you've given up bears no relation to the immensity of what Jesus offers. If we are serious about seeing our communities, our country, our world changed, some more of us need to step into our calling, and follow a monastic way.

- Simon Cross, p. 200, Totally Devoted--The Challenge of New Monasticism

Could it be that in the postmodern, pick-and-choose spiritual supermarket we now inhabit, people are actually craving commitment, discipline and obedience? ... Maybe in our dumbed-down and easy going culture, Christians should be both proclaiming and living out the essentially counter-culture message of commitment and discipline which is so clearly found in the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon monasterium.

- Ian Bradley, Celtic Scholar

New Monasticism Communities

This a small but, I hope, representative listing of new monasticism communities.

Additional New Monasticism Communities can be found in our March 2011 Newsletter. You can view it by clicking on this link: http://www.mysticalwhiterose.com/2011marchnews.html

The Urban Abbey

http://www.saintgeorgeschurch.org/urbanabbey

We are a monastery without walls, a group of individuals committed to a rule of life and a vibrant spiritual community. The Urban Abbey is located in Arlington, Virginia at St. George's Episcopal Church.
We are a community of individuals in northern Virginia in the United States committed to following a Benedictine-inspired Rule of Life.

We are not a residential community. Abbey members seek to live out their vows in the everyday aspects of their lives. Thus, we consider ourselves to be a monastery without walls.

Listening Groups are a central feature of our Abbey community. In these contemplative prayer groups we practice a form of group spiritual direction and listen to God for each other.

While we are associated with St. George's Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia, membership in the Abbey is open to anyone willing to commit to our Rule of Life.

Urban Abbey Rule of Life

With the intention of drawing closer to God, I will with God’s help:

    * Pray daily, guided by the Book of Common Prayer or another Christian format, and worship regularly in community;
    * Study scripture, and pursue a specifically selected spiritual formation activity annually;
    * Serve others, share the tasks of the Urban Abbey Community, and be mindful of God in my daily work; and
    * Show fellowship with a welcoming heart, seeking Christ in everyone I meet, offering comfort and celebration.

The Simple Way

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

http://www.thesimpleway.org/

Their Commitments:

Scripture

We recognize the Bible, composed of the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament, as inspired of God, the supreme and final authority in faith and life. We submit ourselves to carrying out our mission under this authority and seek to apply biblical principles to all facets of human aspiration and action.

The Church

We affirm that the Church is a unit with many parts, forming one body (1 Cor. 12:12). The Church is the body of the followers of Jesus, inclusive of persons of all cultures, races and nationalities. We value and unite with local congregations in establishing the Kingdom of God and carrying out the work of Jesus.

The Trinity

We echo the Nicene Creed in our belief in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, both perfectly divine and perfectly human, the Son of God, begotten from the Father, God from God, of one substance with the Father, through whom all things came into being, in Heaven and on earth, and who because of our sins became human, suffered, died, rose, ascended, and will come again to judge the living and dead; and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord the giver of life, one with the Father and the Son, and to be worshipped and glorified.

Humanity

We believe that people are created in the image of God. We believe people are created to love and to be loved. We also believe that humanity is fallen, and Jesus died and rose in order to save humanity. Humans are incapable of holiness and perfect love without the sacrifice of Jesus.

Evangelism

We affirm the importance of calling all persons to personal faith and faithful discipleship in following Jesus Christ. We recognize that this is done both with words and without them.

Justice

We acknowledge with sorrow the brokenness of the world at personal, national, and international levels, and we seek justice, reconciliation and transformation in all arenas of life. In these politically, economically, socially, and religiously decaying times, justice is needed to bring hope, wisdom, and grace. We also realize that the evils of poverty and oppression exist on two levels, the individual and the structural, and we work for justice in both facets.

Need

We believe that there is enough. Those with plenty can meet the needs of the poor, if s/he who can gather much will not gather too much (2 Cor. 8:13-15). We believe that the Kingdom of God is free of poverty and oppression. We echo and attempt to live out Christ’s prayer that the “Kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We believe that begins now, with Jesus’ followers, and continues throughout eternity.

Community

We believe that humanity is created for community. God is a community, a Trinity, a plurality of oneness. And we are created in that image. Jesus modeled this community with His disciples, as He lived and as He sent them out and taught them to live. We wish to return to the community like that of the early church in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-35. We believe that in this type of community, reconciliation happens. God is establishing a new community, a new Kingdom.

Love

We recognize the mystery of love. Ultimately, our mission is to love—to love God and to love people. This is the greatest commandment, embodying God’s law. All sin stems from not loving God or not loving people. Loving God and loving people are intricately connected and utterly inseparable. We also acknowledge that pure love is God. The greatest act of love is introducing someone to Love, in the person of Jesus.

The Grey Robe Monks of St. Benedict

It was not you who chose me, it was I who chose you." John 15:15-16

Communities in the U.S. and Europe

http://grosb.org/

The Benedictine vocation is very unique. Regardless of the lifestyle, a cloistered environment or a monastery without walls, the calling is the same; service of God and neighbor. This vocation involves a discipline of prayer, work, obedience and charity.

As a Monastery Without Walls, the Grey Robe Monks do not withdraw from the world like those in an enclosed community. Instead, they strive to live the Rule of Benedict in the secular world. It requires its followers to reject the false lures of power, happiness and fulfillment. Thus, monastic life is experienced through work, community, lectio divina and prayer.

Living Stone Monastery

Newport News, Virginia, USA

http://lhop.us/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000038971

LivingStone Monastery is a Christ-centered community of evangelical protestants who seek to follow Jesus Christ in an uncompromising, counter-cultural way. It is devoted to the ministries of night and day prayer and hospitality. As a neo-monastic community of men, woman, singles, and families we join together for a season of our lives to focus on constant prayer, life changing hospitality, spiritual formation, and service to the cities of Hampton Roads.

We have many friends and guests but those that formally commit to the LivingStone are called “workers”. We are organized in three orders signifying the type of connection we have with the community. First and Second orders shared living quarters overseen by LivingStone. Third order members provide their own housing throughout the cities.

The workers of LivingStone study and commit to a rule of life. For centuries Christian Monastic Communities have banded together around a rule of life. These “rules” weren’t rules like “do not touch, do not taste” but an ideal and a rhythm that we organize modern life around in order to radically follow Jesus Christ. You can find out the details of our rule of life in that section of the website..

LivingStone was commissioned and continues to be under the oversight of Hope Community Church and its elders. We value highly a connection to a larger local church body both relationship and in organization.
LivingStone's name was inspired by 1 Peter 2:4:

As you come to Him, the living stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him - you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Joshua Tombley, 3/4/2009

EarthAbbey

Bristol, England

http://www.earthabbey.com/

EarthAbbey is a movement of people helping one another to live more in tune with the earth. We work to promote

    * A rich relational life between human beings
    * A compassion toward the earth and its creatures
    * A sense of interconnectedness of all life
    * Wisdom and justice in relationships
    * Human fulfilment and the nurture of the inner life
    * A way of living that leaves the earth better than we found it

Our inspiration derives from Jesus of Nazareth whose life and mission was to bring about a peace which embraces all creation. We pursue a life-affirming, creative spirtuality that is open to all. EarthAbbey is more than a website. It is a movement of people and you are invited to join.

Monasteries of the Heart

http://www.monasteriesoftheheart..org/

U.S. and International

Catholic Benedictine nun Joan Chittister's book, The Monastery of the Heart: An Invitation to a Meaningful Life is sparking a movement to bring monastic ways into the mainstream. Click on the link to learn more and explore a variety of resources.

Northumbria Community

Northumberland, England, U.K.

http://northumbriacommunity.org/

The renewal of the church will come from a new type of monasticism which only CuthbertsCaveEaster1has in common with the old an uncompromising allegiance to the Sermon on the Mount. It is high time men and women banded together to do this.

-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in a letter to his brother

The Northumbria Community describes a network of hugely diverse people, from different backgrounds, streams and edges of the Christian faith. We are united in our desire to embrace and express an ongoing exploration into a new way for living Christianly - a way that offers hope in the changed and changing culture of today's world. Inspired by, drawing from, and living in the spiritual tradition of monasticism, the Community is geographically dispersed and strongly ecumenical but with an identity rooted in the history and spiritual heritage of Celtic Northumbria. In seeking God as the 'one thing necessary' our continuing quest for a 'new monasticism' is the heart of our life whether alone or together. It is this blending of 'a prayer that is quiet and contemplative and a faith that is active and contagious', lived out in the ordinariness of everyday life, which forms a foundational basis for our growth and development.

Iona Community

Isle of Iona, Scotland, U.K.

http://www.iona.org.uk/

The Iona Community is a dispersed Christian ecumenical community working for peace and social justice, rebuilding of community and the renewal of worship.   Although it maintains three island centres (Iona Abbey and the MacLeod Centre on Iona, one at Camas on the nearby island of Mull), the Iona Community has its mainland home in Glasgow, the base for:

    * its work with young people,
    * its publications houseWild Goose Publications, and its magazine, Coracle
    * its work revitalising worship through the Wild Goose Resource Group
    * its central administration

Video: Iona - Song: Here I Stand

Video: Iona Pilgrimage

The Order of Mission

http://www.missionorder.org/

The Order of Mission (TOM) is a global community of pioneering leaders who follow Jesus. Under God, they have committed themselves to each other for the purpose of taking the good news of Jesus to the nations.

They believe: "We live in days of great upheaval. The world is changing faster than the church. This often leaves us feeling disoriented and unsure of how to communicate the Gospel. TOM is a pioneering movement born out of a desire to fully give ourselves to making disciples of Jesus in this fast changing world. We stand in the tradition of the missionary communities of the past who lived as radical, pioneering pilgrims called to influence, serve and shape society and the church in their time: the Celtic monks and nuns who first re-evangelised these nations, the Methodists and the Salvation Army who called a people back to God in their days, the Protestant missionary societies who re-discovered global mission in the nineteenth century."

The Order of Mission is a dispersed community of pioneers, people called to lead and influence within whatever context and culture they live and work: cities and rural areas, developed and developing countries, business, education, arts, health and social care, public and private sector, family and church. They are committed to vows of simplicity, purity and accountability.

Community of Transfiguration

http://inclusivecelticchurch.com/TaborCommunity.aspx

Rooted in the spirit of ancient Celtic Monasticism, we are a present witness to the monastic character of the Celtic Church. We make no claims of being a "traditional monastic community, even though we may borrow some outward aspects and some spiritual aspects. We are an intentional and inclusive community, l/g/b/t or straight, partnered/ married/single/dating who are called to form a new monastic spirit, living in our own homes or with our families. Inspired by all the great Celtic and other monastic founders, in particular those who founded Iona and Lindisfarne, such reformers as Benedict and Francis, as well as newer communities such as the Jerusalem Community, we seek to witness to the world in a Monasticism that reflects today's spiritual needs and concerns. We seek to balance prayer with ministering to all in need in the deserts of our cities and towns, as witnesses to the transfiguring presence of Christ. In prayer we travel up the Mount of Tabor to meet the transfigured Christ and in our mission we seek to bring that experience back to those too weary to climb that mountain themselves. We do this through the practice compassionate presence. We invite all to join us in our journey together to Tabor and being transfigured in Christ, help renew the Church and our world.

Links of Interest

New Monasticism Website

12 Marks of New Monasticism

Relevant Magazine Interview with John Wilson-Hartgove re: Exploring New Monasticism

Review of the book "New Monasticism; What It Has to Say to Today's Church" by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove by Carl McColman.

CONSP!RE is a magazine committed to building relationships and supporting people trying to follow the way of Jesus . It is supported by a network of communities, groups, and individuals. Each issue explores the questions of faith that arise from living for justice. Consp!re means breathing together. The magazine's publishers believe the reign of God is about relationship and living with imagination. Consp!re also means plotting together—and they are "plotting goodness." They seek to "do small things with great love, interrupting injustice with grace, and transforming ugliness to beauty". http://www.conspiremagazine.com/

Anglimergent - A group for those who are involved in intentionally New Monastic Communities that are emerging from the Anglican/Episcopal community or are from churches in full covenant with Anglican/Episcopal provinces.

The Quiet Garden Movement

Sustainable Living - New Monastics

Monastics On a Journey Blog - Reflections on the everyday wonders of the monastic life by a Benedictine Sister of Virginia.

Unfolding Light - Where the plains of existence are captured on paper.

Order of Christ Sophia -- A new religion incorporating Christian mystical and esoteric practices.

Religious Jewelry & Custom Religious Jewelry Service

Dara Molloy-- Celtic Priest, Celtic Monk

Hodge Podge from the Geranium Farm -- Down to earth support for living.

Windows to the Soul Blog -- The media are windows to the soul of humanity…exploring the spirituality of Catholic media artists.

Plough Publishing -- Resources for Christian Living, including free ebooks.

PrayerBedes -- Prayer Bedes' mission is to encourage Christian prayer. It acknowledges many forms of prayer. One form is using the tradition of Christian prayer beads to help engage body, mind, and spirit in prayer.

The Celtic Monk Blog -- started this blog because I believe that Celtic Christianity has something of importance and beauty to offer. Together, we will explore Celtic spirituality by examining different books and topics, looking at historical questions, and perhaps most important of all, what it is like in practice. As both a person of faith, and also a priest, I will share many of my experiences and feelings. I look forward to hearing what you think and have to say.

Radical Middle Newsletter -- Thoughtful Idealism, informed hope.

A World Alliance of Interfaith Clergy

The Alternative Seminary

White Lotus Aromatics Newsletter

Benetvision - Joan Chittister

Multi-Faith, Multi-Media Devotionals for June 2011

Each day we should expose ourselves to the inspiration of others. Thousands of saints and wise men and women have left us messages of hope andencouragement. Read what is honest. Read the scriptures and the commentaries. Read great literature and poetry. Read the psalms. Read that which expresses the anguish and the exhilaration of experience, and teaches us that we are not alone.
- John McQuiston II, p. 88, Always We Begin Again--The Benedictine Way of Living

These devotionals also serve as excellent "journaling prompts" for written reflections.

June 1 June 2 June 3 June 4 June 5 June 6 June 7 June 8

June 9 June 10 June 11 June 12 June 13 June 14 June 15

June 16 June 17 June 18 June 19 June 20 June 21 June 22

June 23 June 24 June 25 June 26 June 27 June 28 June 29

June 30

Additional Resources

Moon Phases for June 2011

Living In Season

Daily Celebrations

Astronomy Picture of the Day

The Writer's Almanac:-- Poems, prose, and literary history. Delivered daily.

Interfaith Calendar