Have you heard the phrase holding space? One person can hold space for another by just listening to what they have to say—without judging, without problem-solving, without comparing their experiences. It is a loving, compassionate act. Sometimes holding space can mean literally “holding space,” offering someone a place to be as they sort things out…
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…
“Values according to which we conduct our lives will shape the future.” —Jeremy Lent, The Web of Meaning, p. 5 So what are the values that enliven Prairiewoods? What is the future emerging here? For that I look to the core values of the Franciscans who founded Prairiewoods so many years ago. Respect—We honor one…
As a new Board Member to Prairiewoods, I just want to say why I think Prairiewoods is important. The first thing comes from my faith: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1). So caring for creation should derive from your faith, which it does from the foundresses of Prairiewoods, whose spirituality…
Hope for the web of life that is creation is within reach. In light of recent incendiary decisions handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), so much has happened since June 12, 1967, when Loving vs. Virginia concluded—with a unanimous SCOTUS vote—that Virginia’s inter-racial marriage ban had violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the…
At Prairiewoods, we are going through a time of great change. This transitional period can rock us or make us rock-strong. When your small staff of 16 is suddenly down three members, as ours is at Prairiewoods, it feels like a lot of change all at once. And that change can feel anxiety-inducing. However, it…
Amid the stirring of the world today, we offer an inspiring invitation to simple connection. See https://youtu.be/j9rckyEsmAA. May we each engage the opportunity to make this day a beautiful day. —Ann Jackson, PBVM, Prairiewoods spiritual services coordinator
I write this poem in memory of the friends that the Prairiewoods community has lost. THE SPARROWS SING THEIR SPRING SONG The sparrows sing their morning sun song from the soon-to-be-greening boughs. This day, though, breaks without you— our hearts are aching with sorrow. Then, a soft flicker and flutter of feathers— the sparrows rise…
Among many haunting images regarding the incomprehensible, unconscionable situation in Ukraine are images of Vladimir Putin seated at the end of very long tables for meetings with individual Russian government ministers. The disturbing disconnection portrayed in these images stirred a meditation in my own prayer. I began to envision the myriad of people missing from…