“Love and say it with your life.” —Augustine of Hippo A recent Saturday afternoon found me driving along gravel roads in rural Benton County, hungry for sites other than the four walls I’ve been staring at for weeks during this spring of self-isolation. I was listening to a podcast called Snap Judgement, and an episode…
DetailsI just finished reading a truly heart-awakening book called To Speak for the Trees: My Life’s Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest by Diana Beresford-Kroger, a botanist and medical biochemist from Ireland who was orphaned as a young girl and then raised by her wise Celtic community of relatives…
DetailsImagine you are a student sitting in a classroom. Look around your classroom. Who do you see? Where is your desk? Where does your teacher stand? We know the typical scene well. Students are seated at desks in parallel rows facing the front of the room. The teacher stands at the front of the room.…
Details“I who have died am alive again today. And this is the Sun’s birthday. This is the birthday of life, and of love, and wings …” —ee cummings, “I Thank You, God, for Most This Amazing” One thing I absolutely love about Sunday is permission to rest, to float, to breathe in, breathe out, breathe…
DetailsHello, Prairiewoods friends! I hope you are faring well today and enjoying this extended weekend. Spring is unfolding beautifully at Prairiewoods, and I am excited to share it with you. Prairiewoods and Metro Catholic Outreach (MCO) have been partnering since 2014 with our shared vegetable garden, the Green Prairie Garden, located on the land at Prairiewoods.…
Details“Satyagrapha. Satyagrapha. Satyagrapha …” Our global prayer of lament these months echoes a resounding, world-wide plea for satyagrapha, meaning “truth force.” Engaging this energy of passive political resistance has been advocated by many activists throughout history, particularly noted was Mahatma Gandhi in liberating India from oppressive power. Today the pandemic invites us to yet another…
Details“Then would you read a Sustaining Book, such as would help and comfort a Wedged Bear in Great Tightness.” —A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh Winnie the Pooh is speaking to Christopher Robin while stuck in Rabbit’s doorway after—as usual—he’s eaten too much honey. I’m feeling a bit like Pooh these days, wedged in a time…
DetailsThe lemon balm in my garden began poking out of the soil a couple of weeks ago. At first, there were tiny green bits, barely noticeable unless you looked hard. Now, the plants are almost bushy. I feel tempted to pick a sprig but the plants still look too tender. I can’t bear the thought…
DetailsI’ve been thinking about holistic health, overall wellness and self-care. Are others thinking about self-care at a time when we are also thinking about basic survival? I googled the term “self-care during the pandemic” and although I was researching the topic looking for comfort, I actually felt a bit overwhelmed by all of the resources…
Details“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” —Isaiah 43: 18–19 No! I’m not sure I can perceive it. I want…
DetailsAAAWWWHOOO AAAWWWHOOO Who cooks for you?? Still Still Blink Swoooooop Clutch, hold, hold, hold Swivel to peer, search, scan AAAWWWHOOO AAAWWWHOOO Who cooks for you?? Still Still Ruffle Gaze Swivel If you guessed it was the magnificent Owl that captured my imagination in last week’s blog entry, you were right! “Who cooks for you?” is…
DetailsHello, Prairiewoods friends! My favorite days are the days when I fall in love over and over and over again. With people’s faces, their smiles, with the bees drinking water at the fountain or the prairie grasses dancing with the wind, a dog’s gruff bark, the feeling of love emanating from deep within me. I haven’t…
DetailsChristine Valter Paintner’s beautiful four-minute reflection, Praise Song for the Pandemic, might offer us words for the gratitude we sense most deeply these months. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCYoikGaI6U —Ann Jackson, PBVM, Prairiewoods spiritual services coordinator
DetailsFive years ago, my husband and I bought our first home, relishing the joys of our own walls, our own lawn, our own silence. And for five springs, I’m ashamed to say, we have rushed through our lives, barely aware of the natural world that also calls this plot of land home. (We only seemed…
Details“The horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change.” —Maya Angelou I began working from home on March 19. Since then, I have been mostly at home, self-isolating and having minimal in-person interaction with the rest of the world. Working from home has meant long days at my computer or on…
DetailsOn the days leading to Beltane, the Celtic May Day, I walked through the forest wishing for Beltane songs, wishing I knew the ancient words my ancestors would’ve sung to celebrate the season of fertility and new life. I found myself humming one morning, and spontaneously singing the opening of an old favorite song, “Feeling…
Details“It’s strange to be here. The mystery never leaves you alone.” —John O’Donohue Spirituality is defined as “the quality of being concerned with the human spirit as opposed to physical or material things.” Thank you, Oxford, we forgive you. That definition no longer works for millions of souls who have ceased to separate the two,…
Details“Love alone is not enough. Without imagination, love stales into sentiment, duty, boredom. Relationships fail not because we have stopped loving but because we first stopped imagining.” —James Hillman, The Force of Character: And the Lasting Life, 2012 “Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of…
DetailsThese times are inviting us to share our stories. I keep getting that message over and over again. This past weekend, Sharon Blackie, our Spirituality in the 21st Century presenter, spoke about myth and story. Her storytelling of “The Handless Maiden” felt divinely timed, gently inviting us through story into exploration of these crazy, enchanting times…
DetailsSeeking wisdom for systemic change, I’ve recently been reading and listening to a wise voice alive and well today—David Korten, self-described “author, speaker, engaged citizen.” David offers a frank query: “We will prosper in the pursuit of life, or we will perish in the pursuit of money. The choice is ours.” Captivated by the paradox…
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