Rediscovering the Natural World

In the neighborhood where I grew up, there were so many lilac bushes you could get lost in them. Hollyhocks grew wild along the bases of tall limestone walls and bluffs. There was a secret patch of lilies-of-the-valley hidden between my grandfather’s box hedges and the neighbors’ garage. Moss roses grew out of the wall…

Singing is Twice Praying

Sister Joann Gehling, beloved friend (and one of the Prairiewoods foundresses), once told me joyously that “singing is twice praying.” I love this notion and have thought about it many times since Joann shared this with me, a phrase she learned from another FSPA sister who was her choir director. So many beautiful prayers and…

Breathing to Heal

“Breathe deeply, until sweet air extinguishes the burn of fear in your lungs and every breath is a beautiful refusal to become anything less than infinite.” —D. Antoinette Foy   Lovely and evocative words, but if the advice to breathe isn’t working for you, I completely get it. If you’re like me and being told…

Tending the Fire

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” —Genesis 1:3   “The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides, and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered…

Nature Conversations: Listening

As we practice greater physical distancing and even isolation from people in these days of pandemic, we have the opportunity to embrace a closer relationship with the natural world. But how do we do that? One good way is to start a habit of nature conversations. As I say in the book I co-authored with…

Good Friday: Are we there?

Today amid religious traditions, such as Yom Kippur, a Jewish day of serious reflection, and Ramadan, the Muslim 40 days of fasting, abstinence and prayer, Christians mark the silence and stillness of Good Friday, the holy day between Passover and Easter marked by many as the most somber, reflective day in the Christian year. We…

Embodying the Spirit of Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday, is one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar. Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum, which means “command.” It refers to Jesus’ new commandment given on this day to love one another as he has loved us, not superficially, but selflessly. On Holy Thursday—the day before the crucifixion…

Drawing Hope

The family who lives on the corner is busy with their sidewalk chalk, writing friendly messages and drawing rainbows and smiley faces in pretty pastel colors of yellow, pink, light green, baby blue and lavender. They do this, even with rain in the forecast. As I walk along their sidewalk squares I read: We Are…