“Wild Thing! You Make My Heart Sing!” 

Relating 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…

A Path to Peace

Compelling energy—the thousands of activists who over fifty years ago in 1963 committed themselves to nonviolence and marched courageously in Birmingham for all. Spawning several grassroots movements, Dr. Martin Luther King’s candid “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” called people to pledge not only to march for justice, but also to make active nonviolence a way…

Welcome to This Circle

Twelve years ago, my husband and I had a somewhat untraditional wedding. We rented a large inn for the weekend and invited our close friends and family to come celebrate and help us create the perfect weekend. One friend helped me buy all the food, and my aunt cooked it. My mom made the flower…

Hidden Things

Each day—sometimes two or three times a day—I go outside for a contemplative walk. Sometimes I walk far into the woods, sometimes to the edge of the river and sometimes I’ll just walk right outside my door to touch my bare feet to the Earth. Sometimes I find myself singing a prayerful song called “Hidden…

Echo Chambers

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” —Mark Twain Notable figures throughout human history have worked as changemakers, for good and ill. Was it easier to change the way things were 20 years ago? Unlikely. Change is, by its very nature, a stretching of the…

Midwife to the Woods

Prairiewoods is pleased to announce the release of a new book of poetry, Outstretched Boughs, that celebrates the spirituality of trees, especially those found on the 70 acres of land known as Prairiewoods. It was created in loving memory of Kathy Decker and Betty Daugherty, FSPA, and features original poetry and photography from more than…

Feasting on Transformation

This week I’ve been feasting on these beauties! Cherry tomatoes and peaches—each morning, a prayer. Once a small seed nourished over time by loving heart, sun, moon, wind, rain, stars, tender hands … they ripen seemingly simply sitting on the kitchen counter. Each morning’s prayer, I count myself so blessed to have somehow through anticipation…

Lord God, Heal Me

Let’s be real here. When we’re truly struggling, it can be hard to put words to the unrest in our soul. Connecting with our Creator can feel insurmountable. In trying times, I find that I fall back on the simple repetition of a mantra, a hymn from childhood or a memorized line of scripture. When…