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The Sacredness of Now
In a world that bombards our senses, where is the sacredness we’re so desperate for?
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The Great Anesthetic of Modern Day Life
(Originally posted on The Huffington Post Blog.) “The world is like an anesthetic… people are not going beyond the superficial to the meaning of life — they don’t even ask that question because they’re caught up in that anesthetizing process.” A Monk of Holy Trinity Abbey, Utah I woke up this morning with an overwhelming…
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Slowing Down to Listen
Just a couple of months ago, in November of 2014, I was on a work trip in New York City. Naturally, and true to New York City, my days were filled with travel, organizing, preparing, and little to no down time. While I was there, my friend Bill called and left a voicemail on a…
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Silence Is Speaking… Will We Listen?
Originally posted on my HuffPost Blog: As much as society tells me noise is more golden than silence; silence still whispers mystery to my mind and heart. I’m continually engulfed in modern day life with beeps, vibrations, commercials, news feeds — a variety of attacks on all my senses. Yet, silence’s mystifying self still delicately…
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To Be OK with the Blank Page
Originally posted on my HuffPost Blog “You can’t anticipate a garden. Stuff won’t grow until it’s time to grow and when the season’s finished, it’s all over.” -Father Anthony, OCSO My friend Dave told me once that to be ok with loneliness, you have to be ok with the blank page. Most of us can’t stop…
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Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey
Guadalupe Abbey is amid the valleys of wine country in Oregon, just southwest of Portland and inland from the brilliant Oregon coastline. Appropriately so, the abbey grounds were in full bloom for Easter weekend, and the forest that rested in the background was aglow. I wasn’t sure what to expect at Our Lady of Guadalupe…
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The Abbey of the Genesee
Genesee Abbey is in New York near Buffalo and Rochester – with the background of some beautiful rolling hills and even more beautiful people. Piffard, NY is a very small town, which seems to have allowed the Monk’s Bread (the primary source of income for the monks) to be a popular item amongst the entire…
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Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey • Wrentham, MA
One’s usual response to Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey in Wrentham, is typically a response of senses to their incredible candy. I, however, was lucky enough to experience more beyond that within a greater grasp of this remarkable community and monastic way of life. My humble arrival began with a rented car slowly coming in through…
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Saint Joseph’s Abbey • Spencer, MA
St. Joseph’s Abbey is a staggering fortress in the midst of Massachusetts; built with incredible stone and surrounded by the acres of nature that a ‘typical’ monastic so longingly takes pleasure in (point being each one of us is different and there is no ‘typical’ monastic). I arrived for a brief day trip to St.…
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Redwoods Monastery • Whitethorn, CA
The Redwoods Abbey was founded in 1962, when the founding sisters arrived during the winter, to see if they could withstand the trials of weather. Now over 50 years later it turns out they could withstand the winter. Through my interactions with these sisters, in words and experiences, the common theme of non-judgment arose; it…
Dr. Cassidy Hall, DMin, MDiv, MTS, MA 