Holy Birthing: Practices for the 12 Days of Christmas

January 4: Find a journal, bless it as a container for all of your sacred and holy dreams. Leave it out and every time you find yourself dreaming about a possibility, spend just five minutes writing about it. Let yourself follow the sacred threads leading you ahead.

January 5: Pray lectio divina with this passage from Jeremiah 6:16—"Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls." Listen for the ancient paths calling you forward.

January 6th—Feast of Epiphany

Let a word for the year ahead choose you. Write it down somewhere visible. Visit this link (active December 21st) for some suggestions about how to do this and share it with others.

12/20/2011 5:00:00 AM
  • Progressive Christian
  • Seasons of the Soul
  • Christmas
  • Contemplation
  • Epiphany
  • Meditation
  • Prayer
  • Christianity
  • Christine Valters Paintner
    About Christine Valters Paintner
    Christine Valters Paintner, Ph.D., is a Benedictine Oblate and the online Abbess ofAbbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery without walls offering online classes in contemplative practice and creative expression and pilgrimages to Ireland, Germany, and Austria. She is the author of eight books on monasticism and creativity including The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom (Ave Maria Press) and her forthcoming book The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Inner Journey (Spring 2015, Ave Maria Press). Christine lives as a monk in the world in Galway, Ireland with her husband of twenty years.