What spiritual seekers require for today’s challenges is a deep dive into the “imaginal realm,” a liminal space which hovers between the visible and invisible, the spiritual and the material worlds. Noted spiritual author Cynthia Bourgeault says the “imaginal realm” finds its native home in the heart. It can be accessed through a pervasive perennial awareness…
Details“It feels as though time is evaporating …” and ”I hope we are learning and will be different on the other side of this pandemic …” Many and varied expressions of these sentiments echo our collective experience of “pandemic fatigue.” The way we live our lives each day affects how we perceive the passage of…
DetailsYou may have heard the story about Margaret Mead’s take on the earliest sign of civilization. Dr. Ira Byock tells this story in his book The Best Care Possible: A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life: A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead, “What is the earliest sign of civilization?” The…
DetailsMany mornings, lying in bed and not wanting to get up, I tell myself, “Time to get up. Time to take one step.” This is not an inspiring mantra or motivational affirmation. Just a simple reminder that, even if I can’t see where the day will take me, even if I have no control over…
DetailsI am remembering a fond memory from a couple of years ago, being part of Sister Nancy’s retreat called Meet the Rest of the Relatives, where we spent time deep in the Prairiewoods mission, exploring and nurturing our relationship with the Earth, with ourselves, with the Creator, and with each other—including our tree and animal…
DetailsThe Stephen Schwartz musical Pippin is a parable about the meaning of life set in early medieval Christendom. The protagonist, Pippin, fictional son and heir to the throne of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne, embarks on a quest to find his purpose in life, his “corner of the sky.” “Rivers belong where they can ramble,” he…
DetailsToday a tree along the Cosmic Walk trail at Prairiewoods offers us a visual meditation on finding new meaning in the midst of chaos. Please spend some time visually reflecting with this rare tree. What wisdom does it offer you today? As we all strive to discover meaning within world circumstances, we note the words…
DetailsLightning bugs spark my way. There in the darkness but unseen in the light. Nature’s light, chaotic and beautiful. Temporary and divine in their definition of impermanence that defines all. Firefly flash in space bright and bold. Cold fire without heat. Advancing and exploring. Here then there but still showing “… the way, and the…
DetailsWho I am is always happening Always growing or shrinking like a flower Embodying my space, breathing myself into it I envision a sphere of protection around me But who I am and what I do comprise the universe And yet I am always melting into it And at the core of the wax Eternity…
DetailsWisdom shines brightly and never fades. She is seen by those who love Her and is found by those who seek Her. —Wisdom 6:12 Wise Woman Maya Angelou has been on my mind. I look to my bookshelves, to books I’ve had since I was a child and I find her there—I Know Why the…
DetailsWhat does evolving spirituality look like today? In the context of COVID-19, we have been courting the advent of conscious evolution by our grand—albeit somewhat disorienting—entry into the Ecozoic Era, suddenly eclipsing the Anthropocene at the speed of light. The wider “We” has been not only encroaching on the notion of monolithic anthropocentrism, and obliterating…
DetailsBy way of a response to the political debate held this week, we invite you to view and engage some local initiatives that inspire hope and conviction to lift voice for those in greatest need. This week the Nuns on the Bus toured the state of Iowa to highlight incredible initiatives and to lift awareness…
DetailsOnce a year, my beloved dog Phineas has a playdate with dozens of other dogs, cats, guinea pigs, bunnies, bearded dragons and donkeys from around the corridor. I’m not sure who enjoys it more, me or him. (OK, it’s probably me.) Prairiewoods’ annual Blessing of the Animals gives me and Phin a chance to meet…
Details“And time, we now know, is actually a persistent illusion? What we understand as past and present and future all exist within some sort of eternal now? What? And we’re each made of billions and billions and billions of atoms, because everything everywhere is made of atoms? And atoms aren’t really things or stuff at…
DetailsWhat are you noticing as we begin the autumn season? What are you seeing, now several weeks after the derecho storm? I am noticing trees and stumps and so much beauty. The forest in my neighborhood has opened up again. As I move along with the trees, the light pours in. The canopy is open…
DetailsAs the Prairiewoods artist-in-residence, I have the privilege of spending time at Prairiewoods in a variety of seasons, meandering through the prairie, visiting Grandmother Oak, slowly turning in circles as I walk the labyrinth. A little over a year ago, I waded into Dry Creek—not dry at all!—and perched on a rock with the water…
Details“Conversation is perhaps our greatest hope not only for healing the rifts in human understanding but also for restoring and reinspiring our relationship with the natural world, which is our first and most profound home. Care of the world is always essential, and care arises from conversation.” —Thomas Dean, Introduction, Tallgrass Conversations: In Search of…
DetailsIn his book To Bless the Space Between Us, John O’ Donohue offers prayerful poems that can only otherwise be known as blessings. “The word blessing evokes a sense of warmth and protection; it suggests that no life is alone or unreachable. Each life is clothed in raiment of spirit that secretly links it to…
Details“To make a prairie, it takes a clover and one bee, One clover, and a bee, And revery. The revery alone will do, If bees are few.” —Emily Dickinson When I was a child, I was known for being able to fall asleep anywhere. Once I laid down on a busy sidewalk to snooze while…
DetailsWhen my niece was really little she looked across the table at our Aunt Sherri and said, “I can feel the love coming out of your heart and going into my heart.” I’ve also felt this love from (and for) Aunt Sherri ever since I was little, although I didn’t quite have the words to…
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