They walk a rustic, sandy footpath toward countless unknowns, flanked by mesquite trees, their branches intertwining overhead. In the searing, dry days of summer these branches can offer life-saving shade from the brutal Sonoran Desert sun for those on this passage paved in uncertainty. Here, near the Mexico/United States border, the Arivaca Creek Trail is…
DetailsJoin us for the Pathways to Peace: Food as Relationship Retreat Jan. 24–26, 2025. Learn more and register on our website. “What would happen, for example, if we were to start thinking about food as less of a thing and more of a relationship?” —Michael Pollan Peace, as defined by the Earth Charter, is the…
DetailsTraversing a Franciscan Hiking Route I’m fortunate enough to work for an employer with a structured (and mandatory) sabbatical policy, so over this past month, I’ve been enjoying the blessing of rest. There’s been plenty of reading, a surprisingly fruitful period of writing, and increased time spent with my family, all without the lingering anxiety…
DetailsAs we approach the beginning of a new year, I’ve been reflecting on simple actions that might just impact the state of the world. Jeremy Lent, a past speaker at Prairiewoods’ Spirituality in the 21st Century, extended an invitation to do just that! We invite you to engage his Pause for Peace. It’s simple! Stand…
DetailsI recently found a collection of nature essays by Thomas Merton called When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature, edited by Kathleen Deignan. The title really caught my attention. How can that be, I asked? The trees talk to me every day. I cannot imagine a world when they say nothing, one where we…
DetailsAn essential principle of ecological spirituality is multi-disciplinary wisdom. It is a phrase that sounds academic and not particularly spiritual. Other words we might use for the same idea are interconnection and interdependence. It means that the path to flourishing for people and the planet has been laid by many hands over thousands of years.…
DetailsJust Sitting is related to the full moon, tides, and that idea that the earth is mostly water and so are we. So I thought it’s not hard to believe that the moon would impact our internal energies and water tides too—if we can tune into them. I call it “just sitting” as this is the…
DetailsWhen the temperatures drop, the number of hours of daylight shortens and a tree’s sugar intake is reduced, the leaves shine the most. We all marvel in the beauty of brilliant oranges, deep reds and bright yellow hues that the trees have been hiding under shades of green the entire season. Something about the changing…
Details“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.” ―Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire…
DetailsBecause of love I kneel down here— To a bird, a seed, a story. To a wildflower, a stream, a vision of The light cracking on sky Because of love I leave myself here— On the far side of the place where I thought I was going— Nearer to something that I cannot name, And…
DetailsTwo events—Prairiewoods’ Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) eight-week class and a weeklong silent retreat—deepened my sense of oneness. Both experiences helped me slow down and become more aware of everything around me. One example is eating. In the MBSR class, we ate a single raisin in excruciatingly slow fashion, first examining it visually, then feeling…
DetailsThe gas grill on the back of a pickup truck in front of me, as our vehicles zoomed 65 miles per hour down the highway, was a stresser. Could I really trust the grill was securely strapped in? Simply having to ask myself the question made it a lane changer. Three days later, while visiting…
DetailsWhen despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come to the…
DetailsIt is early September 2024. My windows are open, and the symphony of the woods is lilting through the screen. The crickets provide an anchoring hum, birdsong provides a melody, and the gentle, rhythmic movement of the leaves adds percussion to this morning’s serenade. The early sun is resting on the trees, coaxing the woods…
DetailsRelationships: We build bridges of relationships that stretch us to be people of encounter who stand with all suffering in our Earth Community The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA), Prairiewoods’ founding organization, has committed to a Revolution through Encuentro, or deep encounters with others. As part of this, the FSPA Anti-Racism Team commissioned an…
DetailsEvery day, the news takes another polling guess at how we can be counted. Which is to say, sorted and divided, red vs. blue. It is the season for casting votes, and I must be clear – the casting and the counting matter. In the U.S., as has happened and will in the future elsewhere,…
DetailsPrairiewoods retreat Prayerful silence, Nature, grace God’s exuberance —Mary Martens, BVM, written while on a Silent Directed Retreat at Prairiewoods image of the Prairiewoods labyrinth at sunrise by Emily Osweiler Are you wondering if a Silent Directed Retreat is right for you? We invite you to take time to rest in silence, to…
DetailsIn silence I block out the world so I can know God. In silence I feel my soul so I can know God. In silence I remember the stories of my faith so I can know God. In Silence I know God. —Mary (Zoubek) Mell, written while on a Silent Directed Retreat at Prairiewoods …
Detailsby Erin Lothes, PhD, as originally published in New Theology Review 26:2, March 2014 Every year, the Venetian doge sails out into the lagoon from San Marco Square to throw a jeweled ring into the waters, ceremonially sealing the marriage of Venice with the sea. For centuries Venice’s fortunes rose and fell with the maritime…
Details“The call rings forth: imagine a new future in collaboration with Earth’s wisdom, reweave communion with kith and kin, return to the universal tree of life and liveliness.” —Leah Rampy, PhD, Earth and Soul, p. 145 Throughout her book, Leah Rampy tells us to take time to be connected or reconnected to the kith and…
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