I am finding myself short on my own words these days, content to rest in the silence of my "still heart that refuses nothing" and be nourished by poetry... Refusing nothing means making room for the equal measure of sorrow and ecstasy which shower me daily.

I have become so aware these autumn days of all the moments when I want to refuse my experience, when I want reality to be other than it is, and then I hear the call to rest into the truth of what is. I breathe deeply, I allow the energy of what I resist to have a place in my heart, and somehow I am able to bear it... I want to offer myself to what is most real, because that is where holiness pulses like the shimmering of sunlight on water.

Images (above and on front-page mastheads) and Words by Christine Valters Paintner, OblSB, PhD, REACE, Abbey of the Arts: Transformative living through contemplative & expressive arts

You, My people, burnt in fire,
still staring blinded
by the flame and smoke
that rose from Auschwitz and from Hiroshima;

You, My people,
Drowning in the flood of words and images
That beckon you to eat and eat,
to drink and drink,
to fill and overfill
your bellies
at the tables of
the gods of wealth and power;

You, My people,
Drowning in the flood of words and images
That—poured unceasing on your eyes and ears—
drown out My words of Torah,
My visions of the earth made whole;

Be comforted:
I have for you a mission full of joy.
I call you to a task of celebration.

I call you to make from fire not an all-consuming blaze
But the light in which all beings see each other fully.
All different,
All bearing One Spark.
I call you to light a flame to see more clearly
That the earth and all who live as part of it
Are not for burning:
A flame to see
The rainbow
in the many-colored faces
of all life.

I call you:
I, the Breath of Life,
Within you and beyond,
Among you and beyond,
That One Who breathes from redwood into grizzly,
That One Who breathes from human into swampgrass,
That One Who breathes the great pulsations of the galaxies.
In every breath you breathe Me,
In every breath I breathe you.

Images above: From top (and on front-page mastheads) — “Bonfires” by *Chuck Hoffman and Peg Carlson-Hoffman; second from top — digital photography by *Kathy Bozzuti-Jones; third from top — “Breaking Down the Walls” by *Lucy Janjigian; bottom: photograph by **Diane Walker.

Words above: Excerpted from "New Haftarah for the Rainbow Covenant: An Outcry of Hope" by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Director of The Shalom Center and author and editor of numerous books, including "Torah of the Earth: Exploring 4,000 Years of Ecology in Jewish Thought" (A. Waskow, ed.).

*These images are part of ECVA’s “Justice & Peace" exhibition.

** Curator for ECVA’s “Justice & Peace” exhibition.

If, Lord, Thy love for me is strong

Lord I would see thee, who thus choose thee.

What fears can yet assail thee now?

It may not be too poor for God.

A soul in God hidden from sin,

Love on, and turn to love again.

Images above by Sally Markell — Top (and front-page mastheads): "The Last Night In Eygpt;" Middle: Montage (Rose, Corn, Maple Leaf, and Onions with collage of St. Teresa of Avila in the center); Bottom: "Hadassah Becoming Esther."

Words above by St Teresa Avila (Translated by by Arthur Symons (1865-1945) , from Cities and Sea-Coasts and Islands, published 1918)

A calm and meditative rhythm is what I try to convey in my paintings. It is the meeting of three powerful cultures. The inspiration is the everyday dance of life — the joys, the tribulations, the richness, and the mundane.

In my art I deal with deeper and simple but powerful forces that affect us all. The resulting technique requires an emphasis on the basic shapes of objects rather than the details. Thus a human body is simplified to perhaps a triangle and a circle. The design of characters and the composition are also kept simple.

Color represents life and vitality. The philosophy behind the paintings is an optimistic one with an affirmation of life. This is reflected in the rich and varied colors used. The surface is wrinkled paper on canvas. This gives the paintings their rich texture.

Images above by Sridhar V. Ramasami: Top (and front-page mastheads) — “Ladies of Power”; Next (second) — T54 and Subdued Demon”; Next (third) — “VJ and Cat”; and Final (fourth) — “Three Dancers”

Words above: Artist Statement by Sridhar V Ramasami