I am a marketing and communications coordinator, so I tend to be a person of many words. I spend my days talking on the phone, over Zoom and in person. My time is filled with words written, words spoken, words thought. Even if my mouth is closed, my mind is rarely still. But this week…
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…
As the world stirs so much contrasting energy these days, we offer this reflection as a “great welcome” into unity. The video was created by Sister Suzanne Rubenbauer, FSPA, to welcome encounter with I AM. She researched some of Prairiewoods’ foundress Betty Daugherty’s files for wisdom. See The Great Welcome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tVnW-5f0YA Neil Douglas-Klotz offers…
Two nights. Out of nowhere. The white dog appeared. Initial fangs bared. Hurt unintentionally. Roped paw released and allowed to run. Awaken to joy. Visit again, my strong companion. By my side. Walking lightly without fear. White glow big bang appears. To the portal. That white dog. Of. My. Soul. There have been more years in my life than not,…
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 often talk with the Prairiewoods Land, in my own way. Not so much in human words, but with footsteps and breath. With the occasional wow and ah-ha, spoken in surprised delight. I’ve just seen the white buds of wild rose—a new development. I’ve stepped on forest ground, softened by moles and I feel the…
Humanity needs a break! Having endured the collective traumas of a protracted pandemic, geo-political discord, global upheaval from climate change, the Sixth Great Extinction, massive military conflicts that threaten fragile efforts at “peace,” terrorism, genocide, racism, sexism, misogyny, xenophobia, hate-driven crimes, eco-cide, and socio-cultural and religious melt-downs, we ALL need a break. We need a collective…
On a hot and deeply still July afternoon in 2015, I made my first exploration of the land at Prairiewoods. I didn’t know there were maps of the trails, so I just wandered. Stopping where the path overlooked a bend in Dry Creek I saw, many feet below where I stood, a single large blue-gray…