“The spiritual function of fierce terrain … is to bring us to the end of ourselves, to the abandonment of language and the relinquishment of ego. A vast expanse of jagged stone, desert sand, and towering thunderheads has a way of challenging all the mental constructs in which we are tempted to take comfort and…
Details“Enlarge the space of your tent. Stretch out your tent cloth unsparingly.” —Isaiah 54:2 Reflection: “Building a future of freedom requires love of the common good and cooperation in a spirit of subsidiarity and solidarity … Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals…
DetailsI owe my “I am-ness” to the Stranger. That existence undefined and uncontrollable. The next unpredictable. The Stranger. Those ancestors in my blood, those that are not, and those in future unknown. Next in the grocery line and yet unseen around the corner. The Stranger. Those at body birth, continuance of essence, and those at…
Details“… All that is eternal in me Welcomes the wonder of this day, The field of brightness it creates Offering time for each thing To arise and illuminate. I place on the altar of dawn: The quiet loyalty of breath, The tent of thought where I shelter And all beauty drawn to the eye. May…
DetailsPleased to meet you, Little Oak. I see you’re growing at an angle. Growing like you’re reaching. Like you’re stretching yourself. Like a pre-teen searching the sky. I’m rooting for you. Praying for you. Singing songs for you in your sleep. I’ll be thinking of you, dreaming of your future. And you may see me…
DetailsIn last Monday’s blog (https://prairiewoods.org/interior-wilderness/), we offered an exercise to plunge deeper into our interior wilderness in the aftermath of loss. Whatever “storm” we have recently endured, environmental, communal or personal, the loss profoundly affects our sense of self, our identity. Once we have begun exploring our interior wild-scape after a loss, and we begin…
DetailsSo many of us still remember the first moment we heard about September 11, 2001, when extremists hijacked four planes flying above the United States. Two planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Another into the Pentagon, the top military building in Washington D.C. Close to three…
DetailsFred Rogers is often quoted as saying, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” I have never felt the truth of that statement as much as I have in the…
Details“I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad!” —Rodgers & Hammerstein So many of us are in various stages of grief. I’ve recently lost several good friends, including Sr. Betty—none to COVID. This grief is compounded by having to distance from loved ones and loved places. So here’s to memories…
DetailsOn Monday, Aug. 10, when the derecho hit Iowa, we were all shocked by the storm itself and the severe damage it caused. (We literally didn’t know what hit us, and once we were able to read the news I actually had to google the term derecho, as I’d never heard that word.) But the…
DetailsWhen some calamity befalls us, such as last month’s derecho that brought devastation to Prairiewoods’ tree canopy, as well as widespread destruction to the greater Cedar Rapids area and indeed the whole bio-region, it is a good time to slow down, to pause and reflect, to root deeply, to breathe into the pain of loss…
Details(Prairiewoods tree that fell on the labyrinth due to the derecho) Often over the years since I first learned Maya Angelou’s poem “When Great Trees Fall” in 1990, it has consoled me during the deaths of many loved ones. These weeks in light of the derecho and hurricane destruction, the wild fires, the Pandemic, the…
DetailsThree weeks ago, the greater Cedar Rapids community experienced a freak inland hurricane known as a derecho. Because of this storm, many of us experienced what it is like to live without food, shelter, gas, electricity and internet—most of us for the first time in our lives. At my house, we learned first-hand how hard…
Details“I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.” —J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King Friday night, I sat with a friend in her driveway, many feet apart from one another, as dusk gave way to night. Around us, her once beautifully wooded neighborhood looked like it had suffered…
DetailsGrandmother Oak still stands! I was so happy to read those words in a text from Prairiewoods Director Jenifer Hanson following the derecho storm. Like many others, soon after the storm ended, I thought about Prairiewoods, hoping and praying that everyone was all right. I was sad to hear that many trees at Prairiewoods were…
DetailsThank you to everyone in Prairiewoods’ mycelial network for the outpouring of love and support and shared sadness in the aftermath of the Aug. 10 derecho, which decimated the tree canopy in Cedar Rapids. This poem was composed for love of our fallen arbor-elders in the wake of a devastating loss for this bio-region and beyond.…
DetailsYou’re always welcome to pray the outdoor labyrinth at Prairiewoods. Walking the labyrinth is a powerful, embodied prayer experience. I love this particular prayer form and have had a unique experience each time I do it. I remember years ago, the first time I walked the labyrinth at Prairiewoods, I actually felt some discomfort. Am…
DetailsThis probably sounds like an odd combination, but I’ve been pondering beans, butterflies and cosmos these days. All are abundant in my garden and yard. The vegetable garden is in full harvest mode—beans, peppers, tomatoes, kale, dill, basil. And then there are all the herbs just outside my back door—sage, oregano, thyme, garlic chives, mint…
DetailsRelating with Our Creature-Kin, Part 2 On last Sunday’s blog, we began exploring the wild world of our creature-kin. (https://prairiewoods.org/wild-thing-you-make-my-heart-sing/) We looked at our perception of other-than-human kin in their own integrity, rather than who they are solely in relationship to us humans. Now we shift our attention to our ethics, our practical ways of relating…
DetailsDuring this time of pandemic and PanDeepening, the land at Prairiewoods remains open to visitors. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a many-time visitor, we’d love to see what you’re seeing at Prairiewoods and hear about your experiences. Here is our map of the beautiful 70 acres, as well as our photo scavenger hunt: Trail…
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