As Prairiewoods enters its twenty-eighth spring and summer, we are conscious of three horizons present simultaneously. The first horizon is our past—the very ground of our being. The second horizon is our present—a time of great awakening and preparing for the next evolution. And the third horizon is our becoming—the future to which Prairiewoods is…
DetailsOut for a run one day, I came across a stranger and their dog tucked away in the bushes. Surprised—and noticing the scope laying nearby—I asked if they were watching anything. “Yes,” the stranger said. “Have you seen this bald eagle nest?” I’ve always loved animals, and bald eagles were one of my favorites as…
DetailsA month or so again, we were having our weekly staff meeting at Iowa Interfaith Power & Light (Iowa IPL) where we were starting to dream about how we could build hope for what the future could be. Our mission is to empower Iowans of faith and conscience to take bold and just action on…
DetailsA few years back, while I was hiking with a friend in Appalachian Ohio, she commented on a tree we passed, expressing sadness for the imprints left by lovers who’d carved into the trunk. We kept moving, and a thought popped into my head, more of a question really. So I spoke it aloud, asking…
DetailsIn “Don’t Forget the Spiritual Side of Earth Day,” Fr. Daniel Horan reminds us that Earth Day is not only about recycling or changing practices; rather, it is a reminder of our interconnection with Earth and an opportunity to reflect on how we find God in the world. It is a reminder to continue to…
DetailsMy personal experience, and I know I’m not alone, is that it takes considerable courage to look the climate crisis in the eye. People dislike the climate crisis, to put it mildly, and people are afraid. I am afraid. People who lived through the Cold War are once again living with a kind of existential…
DetailsMy youngest child learned to ride last summer. I watched her front bike wheel wobble on the loose gravel as she sought to find that elusive balance that only comes with time and tumbles. On our return route, she stopped abruptly and gazed into the shadows and underbrush of a one-track dirt trail. With wild…
DetailsIt’s the last day of a four-day cruise. I’ve been to Nassau, Bahamas, Princess Cay Island, and now a day “at sea,” before returning to Port Canaveral, Florida. I am cruising with three great women-friends! I love them. They each are so powerful in their own, unique ways! And we’ve been friends, each one of…
DetailsEach year, Spirituality in the 21st Century invites speakers and community members to come together to explore and expand our thinking about our spirituality and relationships with ourselves, others, Creation and the Source of All Being. Last year, Jeremy Lent explored the intersections of science and ancient wisdom. His words called us to work toward…
DetailsI have been fortunate in my life to get to connect with many places across the globe, in part as a result of my work as a climate scientist. India is one of those places and opened my mind to the diversity of life and the innumerable ways of living it. One of my first…
DetailsI grew up on a hobby farm in North Branch, Minnesota, studied Environmental Science at Cornell College, and now am working in Social Services and am on the board of Prairiewoods. I love exploring all the different ways of connecting to nature, which is why in my ideal world, I would want it to be like the…
DetailsFrom across Iowa and around the Midwest, I invite you to join me at Spirituality in the 21st Century: Hope in Action, organized by Prairiewoods on Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27. Those of us who yearn for a safe, healthy, abundant, and sustainable future for all need a “come together” moment. This is…
DetailsAs I walk among the trees adorned in golden morning shadows, much of the ground is still hidden from sight. The sky has caught the first threads of sun and is transforming the darkness into an array of pinks and reds that I do not know how to name. The air is crisp and jacket-worthy,…
DetailsThings to do But the heart calls me here Thursday Zoomdo, forest communities My muses Overcoming urge to eat Choiceless decision Divine peace pursuit Pursuit of the Divine Here within, no need to pursue Peace through Hulu-binging There without Next episode in 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10 … Teachers both Inseparable from the way…
DetailsPart of my unplanned ritual every dawn involves the consciousness of awakening next to my husband, my partner. There is the warm feeling of gratitude before the more reality-driven thoughts of what this day might hold and how we will intersect during the day. This partnership/relationship has been shaping itself for many years and continues…
DetailsOur friends were driving us home in their car. We were returning from a wonderful dinner on a summer evening. When we pulled up into our driveway there it was: a big barred owl perched on the top of our entryway roof. It seemed happy to stay as we all exited the car. I pulled…
DetailsHOW IT BEGAN: In the fall of 2008, I returned to my hometown, Cedar Rapids, after living 30 years in Milwaukee. By the fall of 2009, I felt the need for a retreat and stopped by Prairiewoods, a retreat center I’d heard about located on a new (for me) road—Boyson. After the retreat I asked Sr.…
DetailsMany spiritual traditions recognize the rhythm of nature, human experience and divine spirit. In attuning to the rhythms of Earth, Esther de Waal writes in The Celtic Way of Prayer (p. 61–62): “A people who farmed and knew the patterns of the seasons, who lived close to the sea and watched the ebb and flow…
DetailsGrowing up on 200 acres of land in the hills of eastern Iowa, nature was woven into the fabric of my life. My family was farmers, and conversations about nature and the weather were commonplace: Were the crops too dry? Was it too wet to bale hay? Praying a new calf wouldn’t be born in…
DetailsThis universe This world This life Is a murmuration Thought stream and physicality rejected Protected within the universal tribe Larger something, larger everything Surrounded by those close Strangers distant Neighbors and lovers of lovers Whole unknown Constantly changing Shape shifting, role switching Protected to protector From suffering expected Suffer inevitable Systematic knowing Not a needing…
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