It all began with an email. Sister Joann Gehling invited me to consider participating in a prayer vigil for several immigrants who have been detained in the Linn County Jail. Some of their hearings were to take place on Wednesday, June 3, at the US District Courthouse. Family members would be present as part of…
“The Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC) put forth the notion of a social self—a self inextricably linked to the life of others. Each person is not morally autonomous, but a social being whose identity derives from his interaction and conduct within the broader human community. Central to a healthy and enlivened social self is the…
Dear Prairiewoods Family, Hello and much love to each of you. This is my last blog post as the ecospirituality coordinator at Prairiewoods. I have been thinking about this post all week, and it is hard to find the words for all that I am feeling as I take my leave of Prairiewoods as the…
Nine years ago, my husband and I moved from Chicago to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to be closer to family. Several weeks after we moved here, we went to a popular family-run breakfast restaurant. We waited in line for a table, only to have the four parties behind us get seated while we were ignored. When…
“Hope is holding in creative tension all that is, with everything that could and should be, and each day taking some action to narrow the distance between the two.” —Parker J. Palmer “May you live in interesting times” is supposedly an ancient curse, although its origins are foggy. Still, we know why it is called…
NOT Domination. Cooperation. Collaboration. Co-Creation. Connection. Communion. We grow deeper together. We are One. Like the vast mycelial network connecting the trees beneath the surface, we are One. In the words of ecologian Thomas Berry, “That the universe is a communion of subjects rather than a collection of objects is the central commitment of the…
Prairiewoods’ mission, to welcome and provide sacred space for people of all faiths and cultures and to nurture relationships with the Source of All Being, Earth, self and others, includes everyone. Further, our Franciscan heritage calls us to reverence the Divine Presence within all creation, including each member of the Earth Community. It is because…
The following is a dipping of the toe by a perpetually novice wisdom seeker with early onset overly active mind syndrome who has several wonderful teachers and countless others. I have been thinking a lot about the term self-isolation recently. The question I ponder is why, when combined, these two terms (i.e., self and isolation)…
A few years ago, I saw a woman standing on the side of the road, asking those who passed by in a little Prius or a huge Durango for some spare change and a little compassion. I took a break and sat down with her, this kind, well-worn woman named Dawn. I learned that Dawn…
“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…