Imagine you are a student sitting in a classroom. Look around your classroom. Who do you see? Where is your desk? Where does your teacher stand? We know the typical scene well. Students are seated at desks in parallel rows facing the front of the room. The teacher stands at the front of the room.…
“I who have died am alive again today. And this is the Sun’s birthday. This is the birthday of life, and of love, and wings …” —ee cummings, “I Thank You, God, for Most This Amazing” One thing I absolutely love about Sunday is permission to rest, to float, to breathe in, breathe out, breathe…
Hello, Prairiewoods friends! I hope you are faring well today and enjoying this extended weekend. Spring is unfolding beautifully at Prairiewoods, and I am excited to share it with you. Prairiewoods and Metro Catholic Outreach (MCO) have been partnering since 2014 with our shared vegetable garden, the Green Prairie Garden, located on the land at Prairiewoods.…
“Satyagrapha. Satyagrapha. Satyagrapha …” Our global prayer of lament these months echoes a resounding, world-wide plea for satyagrapha, meaning “truth force.” Engaging this energy of passive political resistance has been advocated by many activists throughout history, particularly noted was Mahatma Gandhi in liberating India from oppressive power. Today the pandemic invites us to yet another…
“Then would you read a Sustaining Book, such as would help and comfort a Wedged Bear in Great Tightness.” —A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh Winnie the Pooh is speaking to Christopher Robin while stuck in Rabbit’s doorway after—as usual—he’s eaten too much honey. I’m feeling a bit like Pooh these days, wedged in a time…
The lemon balm in my garden began poking out of the soil a couple of weeks ago. At first, there were tiny green bits, barely noticeable unless you looked hard. Now, the plants are almost bushy. I feel tempted to pick a sprig but the plants still look too tender. I can’t bear the thought…
I’ve been thinking about holistic health, overall wellness and self-care. Are others thinking about self-care at a time when we are also thinking about basic survival? I googled the term “self-care during the pandemic” and although I was researching the topic looking for comfort, I actually felt a bit overwhelmed by all of the resources…
“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” —Isaiah 43: 18–19 No! I’m not sure I can perceive it. I want…
AAAWWWHOOO AAAWWWHOOO Who cooks for you?? Still Still Blink Swoooooop Clutch, hold, hold, hold Swivel to peer, search, scan AAAWWWHOOO AAAWWWHOOO Who cooks for you?? Still Still Ruffle Gaze Swivel If you guessed it was the magnificent Owl that captured my imagination in last week’s blog entry, you were right! “Who cooks for you?” is…
Hello, Prairiewoods friends! My favorite days are the days when I fall in love over and over and over again. With people’s faces, their smiles, with the bees drinking water at the fountain or the prairie grasses dancing with the wind, a dog’s gruff bark, the feeling of love emanating from deep within me. I haven’t…