What is Peace? What does it mean? It’s more than a cessation of war, of violence or fighting. It’s more than keeping up a façade of pleasantness, or “appropriate” behavior. It goes much deeper than appearances, pat phrases or pretense. Deep within, we are connected. Connected with everyone and everything, vibrating and oscillating, breathing with…
Today, gratitude remains one of my favorite spiritual practices. “Every day is gift.” I know it soul-deep. Daily I’m grateful for all that Earth offers us. As children, my sisters and brothers knew the blood, sweat and tears that nourished Garden. We ate most of the year from her harvest and while we weren’t, as…
I sought out Grandmother Oak today for some grand and motherly advice She showed me her scars and her broken parts And said “See how I still rise?” “I have wept many tears for my fallen friends, and for the creatures that didn’t survive. My tears wet the ground and nourished my roots. Now see…
Today I walked the labyrinth with a friend for the first time in quite a while. Little did I know that in that one simple act I would experience the fullness and the heart of all that is Prairiewoods. We walked through the woods on the way to the labyrinth, in golden light, and felt…
Christmas is less than two months away, and it’s time to get in the holiday spirit! Join us Saturday, Nov. 19, from 8 a.m.–1 p.m. at Prairiewoods for a day of shopping and holiday cheer. The Prairiewoods Holiday Bazaar features more than a dozen local artists creating handcrafted goods. Here’s a sampling of what you…
Why does the willow weep? Why do pears grow in pairs? Do bees pray on their knees? How do Susans get black eyes? Who packs the parachutes the seeds of milkweed need? A face in the bark was looking back at me. Shards of ancient energy. When does old become ancient? —Diane Wheeler Dunn, friend…
The prairie sings in late summer Trilling yellow in the sun Bees buzzing everywhere But I don’t think I’ve heard more Harmony rolling up from the land Than today, October rain turning everything Into a hundred shades of luminous honey From cinnamon to sienna to amber, the sweet hum Of late fall. —Carol Tyx, Prairiewoods…
The best massage of my life came at the hands of a septuagenarian nun. Sister Nancy Hoffman, FSPA, is one of the founders of Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center, a miraculous slice of reclaimed prairie and oak savannah sandwiched between the suburbs and a trailer court on the edge of Hiawatha, Iowa. Established over 25 years…
The concept of “re-wilding” creation takes its cues from a philosophy of “Nature knows best,” by restricting human interference in creation’s own healing as an approach to ecological restoration and wholeness. Eminent biologist E.O. Wilson (1929–2021) had proposed—provocatively—setting aside and protecting half the biosphere for nature to heal and regenerate, and thus restoring balance to a human-befouled…
This weekend Prairiewoods hosts its annual Blessing of the Animals, a beautiful ritual celebrating the deep bonds animals and humans share. The wisdom of age-old stories and cultures tells us that no boundaries exist between animals and humans. Animals relate with humans every day through appearance, behavior, movement and pattern. Anticipating this favorite Blessing of…