This week the world passed the 6 million mark for recorded deaths from Covid. It is a staggering number, one that is difficult to wrap our heads around. Yet each loss is personal and has profound significance for those who knew and loved that person. One of those we lost in 2020 (though not to…
Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center has worked for decades within a global learning community to co-create the “more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.” The Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing global environmental crisis unmask glaring inequalities that must give way to the common good. We mourn with all who have lost loved ones, with all who…
In the early morning hours of Feb. 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, putting in danger Ukraine’s more than 44 million residents and our global sense of balance. In the days since, the fighting has been relentless. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been displaced, while others are watching the fighting surround them in their homes. Right…
“Sarah laughed.” A brief lexicographical survey of biblical figures who were said to have laughed is a short list. Many are familiar with a famous matriarch from Genesis 18, Sarah (Abraham’s wife). When Sarah is told by a messenger of the Lord that she will conceive and bear a child in her old age, she…
You are so little to be set loose in the wide prairie, your arms no more than twigs, your trunk pencil-thin. As we press earth around your roots, we pray that the sun and the soil will feed you, the rain will enliven you, the moon will watch over you, that you will grow up…
Like many around the globe, I was deeply moved to hear of the deaths of South African, Anglican bishop and theologian Desmond Tutu (Oct. 7, 1931–Dec. 26, 2021), and Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist, author, poet, teacher and founder of Plum Village also known as the “father of mindfulness” Thich Nhat Hanh (Oct. 11, 1926–Jan.…
You are holy and sacred And utterly unique. There are gifts you were born to give. Songs you were born to sing. Stories you were born to tell. And if you do not give it, The world will simply lose it. It is yours alone to offer, No one can give it for you. And…
Millions of people around the world were saddened this week by the passing of Thich Nhat Hanh. The International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism, which he founded in 1982, posted this message on their website: The International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism announces that our beloved teacher Thich Nhat Hanh has passed away…
One of my beloved spiritual friends emailed me a creative reflection template (pictured above) that invites an artistic way to reflect and journal about the past year 2021 flowing into our newly started year 2022. I love the flowy circular nature of this template and the gentle phrasing of the writing prompts. I find myself…
[Image: “A Sunday on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat (1884)] “White. A blank canvas, his favorite, so many possibilities …” “Sunday, by the blue purple yellow red water!” So begins the entry to Steven Sondheim’s magnificent choral rendition from the musical “Sunday in the Park with George,” an exploration of the…