A few years ago, our associate director, Laura Weber, wandered out to the garden here at Prairiewoods and took a photograph of the compost pile. Thus began one of the all-time great ongoing arguments (alright, more a good-natured verbal sparring than an actual argument). Laura saw the image as deeply beautiful, indicative of the work…
“It has always been a happy thought to me that the creek runs on all night, new every minute, whether I wish it or know it or care, as a closed book on a shelf continues to whisper to itself its own inexhaustible tale.” ― Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek I love this quote…
“While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.” —St. Francis of Assisi We are living in a strange time of immediacy. There used to be a time when Amazon primarily evoked an image of a rainforest in South America, and it took effort and…
While we are all hanging out in this sacred cocoon of “PanDeepening,” it seems like we are trembling on the brink of something totally new, something profoundly alluring and terrifying at the same time. Perhaps it is a new “We” that is bigger, more inclusive, more complex and more dynamic than we ever imagined. How might…
In times of imbalance in body, mind and spirit, I turn to the healing powers of the natural world. On a day when the heart of this retired healthcare worker ached with the rising numbers of COVID-19 deaths, I spent time at my beloved Prairiewoods. My eye caught the bright yellow-green new growth of the…
Happy Juneteenth! Observation of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day continues since 1865 to spread across the United States and beyond. Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. A growing awareness of this celebration in cities across the country invites us to reflect how oppressive racism and pervasive violence imprisons. Amid…
It all began with an email. Sister Joann Gehling invited me to consider participating in a prayer vigil for several immigrants who have been detained in the Linn County Jail. Some of their hearings were to take place on Wednesday, June 3, at the US District Courthouse. Family members would be present as part of…
“The Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC) put forth the notion of a social self—a self inextricably linked to the life of others. Each person is not morally autonomous, but a social being whose identity derives from his interaction and conduct within the broader human community. Central to a healthy and enlivened social self is the…
Each week I look forward to the Tuesday Prayer Experience Series. It is a special and sacred time, made even more beautiful and powerful by a lovely and unique group of people praying together. All are welcome, and each week we have a unique prayer experience with a unique group of people (some newcomers and…
Has pausing and social distancing awakened in you a call to something more? Are you called to a new way of being? Is there a feeling in your heart that you can’t quiet? In his book of blessings, poet John O’Donohue offers wisdom on crossing “thresholds.” Thresholds are places of transition and change that call…