Many of us know and love the poetry of Rumi, Hafez, and Kabir, medieval mystics whose passions and insights have been translated into modern language as a gift intended to help us cultivate our own love for God. I’ve been working on a project that has allowed me to see this kind of work from…
A few summers ago, I was fortunate to stay at Prairiewoods for an artist’s retreat of blissful painting, reading and walking in the woods and prairie. But the surprise highlight of my five-day personal retreat emerged each night just before night fell. At dusk that first night, I noticed some lights out the window in…
Everything is energy. Light. Quantum physics speaks of 94% of the universe as being made of energy or light. That includes you. Spiritual traditions have been speaking of this life force energy as Light or Spirit filling and interconnecting all of creation—including humans—for thousands of years. In India it’s called prana, in Hebrew it’s ruach…
My spirituality has evolved over many years, as have the spiritual practices that embody it. It now centers on listening with reverence to mystery and practices that open the heart to pain and suffering. “Every being has its own interior, its self, its mystery, its numinous aspect. To deprive any being of this sacred quality…
In these challenging times of climate disruption, political upheaval and dire forecasts for the future, one thing we could all use more of is resilience. Resilience—it’s our ability to recover quickly from difficult circumstances, to be able to stretch to our limits like a rubber band that bounces back into shape. I wish I could…
May marks a 15-year anniversary for me: 15 years since hearing a diagnosis of bipolar type 2, 15 years of taking mood disorder medication, 15 years of trying different doses—and trying different times of day for taking those doses. 15 years of different therapists, different psychiatrists … May also marks my sixtieth birthday, so of…
Each December, as one year winds down and another is just a glimmer of possibility, I try to encapsulate the outgoing year—and how I experienced it—in a single word or phrase. The year I regained my health by losing weight, went skydiving and took a pilgrimage to Italy with my mother, my word was Joy.…
On a retreat, one of the first things I did in my guest house room was open the shades all the way to the top. I wanted to be as close to the trees and the sky as I could. Surrounded by trees, there was no need for privacy shades. Books are another form of…
Jeweled net There to see Passing overhead Glistening orange Setting sun Moving by grace Ancestral intimacy Threads unseen Over harvest corn Veiled in snow Sight spectacular Smiling heart Ephemeral appearance Permanent actuality Ever to remain Here with me Star-crossed lover At first sight Once in a lifetime Moment Savored eternally —Keith Knapp, friend of Prairiewoods…
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…