…darkness reaches out to offer whatever helping hand it can, calling us to trust it, saying, “Sometimes only the darkness will do.” We owe it to the darkness to reach out and grab that hand, to respect what it has to offer, to join it to the hand of light. Catherine Bird, The Divine HeartContinue reading “#adventapertures2025: day 14”
Tag Archives: season
Sunday 2: for curiosity
Things – including concepts and bodies – are inexhaustible; they show up only partially. If you can see everything, then you’ve already missed a spot. Bayo Akomolafe, These Wilds beyond our Fences (155) To seek context is already to acknowledge you don’t have the whole story … an ecological understanding takes time. Context is whatContinue reading “Sunday 2: for curiosity”
day 6: for fear
I wonder why you brought me to these splintering days, this age of dearth-death and default extinction and the smothering of constellations nostalgia claws at me screaming send me back then I sense a fire that doesn’t consume, a cloud of breath-taking holiness passing across the face of a mountain and it says I putContinue reading “day 6: for fear”
day 5: for darkness
Consider this. In the shadow of a perfectly round object, you will find a rebellious glimmer of light – a bright spot in the middle. I’m not being metaphorical here. I really mean to queer the essential and disturb its eminence. What better way to do it in this case than to point to lightContinue reading “day 5: for darkness”
day 4: for preparation
‘What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.’ A.W. Tozer I reach for the empty suitcase, and wonder if today is the day when I will have enough energy to discern what needs to be put in it. And then I run out of days.Continue reading “day 4: for preparation”
day 3: for change
The ancient Christian monastic traditions, especially desert, Celtic, and Benedictine, offer great wisdom for the journey of unfolding. They understood that the soul’s ripening is never to be rushed and takes a lifetime of work. The gift of the contemplative path is a profound honoring of the grace of slowness. We can grow impatient whenContinue reading “day 3: for change”
#adventapertures is back in 2024
After a break of a couple of years, I decided I wanted to write another series of daily photo reflections for Advent 2024. These #adventapertures (as I call them) bring a huge variety of source material together – from poetry, news journalism, cultural comment, scientific insight and music to biblical writings and liturgy. Each dayContinue reading “#adventapertures is back in 2024”
heart of stone
Once again it is my honour to contribute a reflection to the ‘monk in the world’ blog of the Abbey of the Arts. This piece was first published on May 15, 2024 (although it was written in May 2023). all words and images by Kate Kennington Steer I arrived at February 2023 in a post-viralContinue reading “heart of stone”
k’s big birthday gratitude project 2
Some of you will have already come across a version of this post or an extract of its content … but there are at least two immediate reasons to repeat myself! The first reason for being especially grateful is that the Godspace blog has been central to my growing confidence as a writer and thusContinue reading “k’s big birthday gratitude project 2”
a monk in the world of 2021
I am honoured to have written another guest post for the Abbey of the Arts, which was published yesterday: As a contemplative photographer I thought I knew quite a bit about light and brightness, shadow and darkness. It appears I was wrong. During 2020 and 2021 a series of COVID-19 ‘Lockdowns’ have been offering meContinue reading “a monk in the world of 2021”
image into ikon 