Kinship/Partners

Part of my unplanned ritual every dawn involves the consciousness of awakening next to my husband, my partner. There is the warm feeling of gratitude before the more reality-driven thoughts of what this day might hold and how we will intersect during the day. This partnership/relationship has been shaping itself for many years and continues…

A Big Barred Owl

Our friends were driving us home in their car. We were returning from a wonderful dinner on a summer evening. When we pulled up into our driveway there it was: a big barred owl perched on the top of our entryway roof. It seemed happy to stay as we all exited the car. I pulled…

Be Still, Let Fall

Many spiritual traditions recognize the rhythm of nature, human experience and divine spirit. In attuning to the rhythms of Earth, Esther de Waal writes in The Celtic Way of Prayer (p. 61–62): “A people who farmed and knew the patterns of the seasons, who lived close to the sea and watched the ebb and flow…

Murmuration

This universe This world This life Is a murmuration Thought stream and physicality rejected Protected within the universal tribe Larger something, larger everything Surrounded by those close Strangers distant Neighbors and lovers of lovers Whole unknown Constantly changing Shape shifting, role switching Protected to protector From suffering expected Suffer inevitable Systematic knowing Not a needing…

Spirituality: What does It Mean?

This Thanksgiving, we are so thankful for the strong women who came before us. Prairiewoods was founded by six Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, an order of sisters out of La Crosse, Wisconsin. One of our foundresses, Sister Betty Daugherty, wrote the article below on spirituality in a newsletter that was published in the spring…

Spiritual Contemplation

Spirituality is such a difficult concept to explain. The word brings different meanings, feelings, and thoughts to every one of us. A huge influence on my spirituality is the Native American ideology that everything in nature is spiritual. From the rock to the eagle, to humans, we all have our parts to keep the balance…

Spirituality in Nature

As is perhaps true for each of us, my spirituality sounds in who I was as a child. I grew up on a small Eastern Iowa farm from 1950 through 1965. My mother, though loving, embraced and enforced a stringent Christian fundamentalism. My father, often absent, was kind when present. Serendipitously, we lived with my…