You’ve heard haiku talked about as a product of Japan. After 50 years of life related to Japan, I can attest that haiku is definitely important to them and has become very helpful to my life. To me the northern part of Japan is much like our land here in Iowa—much of it devoted to…
Details“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” ―Brené Brown A number of years ago, I kept an image journal during a period of personal deepening. It was an effort to break out of my typical word-based journaling, to maybe be less in my head and more in my feelings. I drew an image…
DetailsEvery farm family Has a framed portrait Of the land From above This view seen Through a camera lens Out the window Of a small airplane Delivered to the door Every farm family Knows their land as kin As their grandmother Their ancestor Their forever caregiver As their truest friend Seeing the land from above…
DetailsEarly in the pandemic, I wrote in our PanDeepening blog about “The Air That We Breathe and the Spirit of God.” I noted that the power of breath is phenomenal, and that even the word breath (>Gk., pneuma, pneumatos = breath, spirit; > L. spirare; > Heb. ruach) tells us much about the creative Energy of…
DetailsCo-creating the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible requires deep presence. How can we hold space for—BE PRESENT in—the difficult conversations that gather seemingly dualistic opinions to illuminate common ground? This humorous, challenging, July of 2017, TED talk, “How our friendship survives our opposing politics,” highlights beautiful examples of how we—relationships intact—might: move…
DetailsI am not currently in a time of leaving. But I have been there. (Haven’t we all?) Ten years ago, I walked away from my life in Chicago. After 15 years in the city, my husband and I packed up our belongings, said goodbye to the friends who had become our family and moved to…
Details“… Remember you are this universe and this universe is you. Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you. Remember language comes from this. Remember the dance language is, that life is. Remember.” —Joy Harjo, from “Remember” One of the things I have always loved about poetry is that it can capture complex ideas…
DetailsI have a vivid recollection of serviceberry bushes heavy with ripe fruit. It was the summer of 2018 at Prairiewoods, toward the end of June and the day before my sister’s birthday on a Sunday afternoon. Jen Kardos and Fred Meyer from Backyard Abundance were gently and joyously leading a program called Foraging Urban Wild…
Details“Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can’t see them. Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy…
Details“As though the river were a floor, we position our table and chairs upon it, eat, and have conversation. As it moves along, we notice—as calmly as though dining room paintings were being replaced— the changing scenes along the shore. We do know, we do know this is the Niagara River, but it is hard…
DetailsWalk the trail, in the (Prairie)wood and through the wild. Life it seems can sometimes be a stroll, a leap, or a plunge into the anthropocentric pool of our sense of the “unknown.” The result, if pondered, can be a creation of mind structures, complementary or contradictory, working to boil down what is oncoming and…
DetailsI first read Rachel Carson’s seminal work, Silent Spring, as an assignment for my seventh-grade school newspaper Earth Day edition. It was a bit above my head as reading material goes, so there was a lot of skimming involved. However, the parts I did take in (and have remembered my whole life) have informed my…
DetailsI am praying for far off places Praying for their safety For their healing For peace and protection I am praying for far off places I may go only in prayer To the Spirit Bear Rainforest Every fern, water drop, bear, bird, and tree held lovingly in prayer Where might we go together in prayer?…
DetailsSomething in the glow of late afternoon in the stark winter woods whisks me away to warm fires and years of stories and dreams, memories so potent they transport me to other realms, and friends, friends, friends. Deeply treasured, profound friendships give contour and meaning to life. Whenever I wander through the woods at this…
DetailsPeruse news headlines—local, national, international. What do you sense? Division? Exclusion? Inclusion? Violence? Interconnection? Peace? Local? Global? Our hope and prayer; sacred texts Bible, Torah, Quran; liturgical seasons, solstice and equinox rhythms; … continually invite us to metanoia, meaning “a change of heart.” Take heart! Transformation is as close to us as the tip of…
DetailsGrowing up in West Michigan, I attended a small congregation that is part of the Reformed Church of America. I was blessed to have two incredible pastors—a married couple who put their souls into the church and each of its members. (34 years later, one of them still serves as pastor there.) Some of my…
Details“Am I working at my regular capacity? No, but am I prioritizing and taking care of the most important tasks? No. But am I at least taking care of myself and my mental health? Also no.” —Elizabeth Teng, on Twitter I laughed aloud as I read this tweet from Elizabeth Teng when my sister sent…
DetailsHave you ever read Alice Walker’s book of poetry, The World Will Follow Joy: Turning Madness into Flowers? I remember when I found that book (or maybe the book found me). It was a handful of years ago when the new Cedar Rapids Public Library had just opened. I found my way to the upstairs…
DetailsLent began last Wednesday in Western Christian traditions—”Ash Wednesday.” It is so called because the ashes received on the forehead signify a time for penitence, for abstinence, fasting, almsgiving and prayer. This annual journey begins with heartfelt lament from the prophet Joel, “Gird yourselves, O priests, and weep” (Joel 1:13). The great mystery of sadness…
Details“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin It’s easy to set a goal and hard to reach it. Progress toward anything meaningful or worthwhile is fraught with challenge, obstacle and frustration. No one will make it out of this place without…
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