Welcome to our “little cloister”
where we
EXPLORE MONASTIC WISDOM FOR EVERY DAY LIVING
Drs. Almut & Chuck with little one
Home of
+The Hildegard Seminar,
+Kierkegaard Masterclass,
+Bach Passionweek Consolations,
+The 12 Days of Christmas Contemplations &
+The “Little School” of Spiritual Formation
We hope this letter finds you well this Advent week. It is different in many ways for us all this season: some might feel burdened under the forced solitude, some might blossom, many might feel exhausted by the never ending health scare under which we all live. To all we send our well wishes, prayers and thoughts of gratitude.
With this Easter Oratorio by Bach we greet you on this Easter morning one more time. Finally the trumpets and timpani. Bach has led us tenderly through deep emotions of loss, failure, fear and grief, on Easter Sunday trumpets and timpani get their say.
When singing the St. Matthew Passion with the Munich Bach choir one moment stood out: silence. The silence entered when our conductor intentionally held onto the rest after Jesus bowed his head and died. He stood still, with his arms in suspension, cradling the time. It was as though the whole audience sighed together, like our hearts stood still for a moment, pausing in unison. Since then I have known that conducting the pause is as important as conducting the whole Passion...
Where is our hope in times of daily death counts? Our hope is in a God who died publicly humiliated outside the walls of a minor city in a great empire. Our hope is in a God who chooses humility over grandiosity, a God who bows deeply, who suffers with us, even unto death.
One can hardly say anything more meaningful than is already said in this ethereal Aria of JS Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and the angelic earnestness of the interpretation by the male Alto Tim Mead and the Netherlands Bach Society. May you find comfort and healing in it and may it move you to shared compassion with those who suffer in these troubled times.
Today we walk with Peter through his courage, betrayal, and desolation at the cock crow. The music is frenetic and the themes are challenging. But Bach has strategically placed soothing moments that show empathy for the sufferer and offer consolation. We will look together at both the difficulties and the consolations, and then suggest a process and practice to bind them together.
The arias in Bach’s Passions are wells of deep emotion. Time stands still, while we follow a movement of heart to the depth of our soul. Bach’s aria “Have mercy, my God”, invites us almost to dance through our bitter weeping, to get out of our frightened state, and back into motion. It seduces the listener into graceful mourning and the gentle desire for mercy.
With his Passion JS Bach has created a grand lamentation. He does not to believe that coping with our fears and sorrows means to keep them in check in order to quickly get over them. Instead his music gives us a container for our sorrows and seduces us into the beauty of lamentation. Joining in this orchestrated experience of mourning can actually be self-soothing and a strategy for resilience in the face of tragedy.
A Pandemic, memories of childbirth and JS Bach’s Passion.
Around this time last year, I was carrying a heavy load. Our tender little baby daughter was still growing, but ignoring her due date, making every step and breath more difficult with the hour. When she finally decided to enter this world I was thrown immediately into heavy labor which seemed to stretch for an eternity. Pain beyond any I have known was washing over me, the pangs of labor coming so fast for countless hours that I could barely breath or think. No indeed, it was not the graceful Yoga birth I had envisioned. In the end my baby and I clung to life as my doctor ended our passion by cutting me open, lifting our baby daughter from the wound, and stitching me back together. As they bound me to the operating table, both arms stretched wide open I could not help but remark what that felt like: to be tied to my own cross…
Have you ever been in the eye of a storm? A storm of your own making? I have.
Many times. In fact, I think I am a storm maker. I guess, every parent has some things one does not want the child to learn. Mine would be storm making. Though there are good storms. Needed storms. Snow storms. Rain storms. Storms which clean the air and, just as a snow storm in Minnesota, cover the old grey with a new layer of snow white, dampening the noise and leaving freshness and calm behind.
Have you wrapped up the Christmas season yet after the three kings left the scene? Or may be wondered how to make sense of Divine birth the rest of the year? Here is an invitation to pause at the threshold to “ordinary” times once again and ponder the mystery of Divine birth with a little help from two of my favorite depth psychologists: Søren Kierkegaard and C.G. Jung.
The tale of three wise kings sounds too much like a fairytale from former times, but, on the second view, it may hide deep wisdom. Aren’t we all know of wannabe kings, who do not rest, until the world bows before them? Much rarer are the real kings who courageously humble themselves to bow before a higher truth. Therefore I like that the kings of Epiphany are supposed to be wise kings. How urgently we need wise leaders in this world, don’t you think?
Whether or not we have eyes to see, the Christ child is being born, God is with us, the Divine is seeking shelter, all around us. The holy birth is not reserved for Christmas Eve. It happens for us every time again, when we open our heart to a sacred encounter
My daughter has seduced me into learning again how to smile. I have always thought that my smile was a natural and winning one. It is shy, kind, and a bit mysterious and ironic. It is also completely useless when trying to communicate with a 9 month old baby…
Today we invite you to light a candle for your sorrows. If God Almighty had wanted to send a loud message to the world he could have stuck to Hallelujah choruses and angel choirs. Or a mighty king proclaiming the will of God. But instead God bends down deeply, silently, into the night of our sorrows, where we feel little and vulnerable just as a newborn child…
Today we invite you to take a New Year’s walk, and be gently and graciously aware of the gifts you carry. Cradle the beginning of the new year as it would be a baby child.
Like a door or hallway is the space between rooms, night stands as a transitional space between days. We step into it and the old is gone but the new is not quite there yet. Life is in suspension. Today, at the Eve of the new year, when the old is not yet gone and the new is not yet visible, we approach another important night…
Are you tired of bucket lists and New Year's resolutions? We would like to invite you for a time of recollection instead. You can do this by walking in silence, by looking back on the reflections of this journey so far, or by taking some time to look with kindness on your life using the practice we provide.
Little babies rest a lot. They do not care where they are or what is appropriate etiquette. They sleep when they need to. As it belongs to our human condition to rest in order to grow, the same is true for our spiritual life.
