Imagine 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.…
“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…
These 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…
Seeking 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…
This past weekend, Prairiewoods held our annual conference, Spirituality in the 21st Century. Our facilitator, mythologist Sharon Blackie, used a fairytale as a focal point for the themes we discussed. The tale, “The Handless Maiden,” tells the story of an innocent young woman whose hands are cut off to protect her frightened father, who has…
My neighbors are wild. They are often up half the night. They sing at the top of their lungs in the wee hours of the morning. They tear my hostas right out of the ground. One neighbor walked the perimeter of my yard and then proceeded to matter-of-factly pee on the side of my house.…
When King Arthur first meets Lancelot duLac in the musical, “Camelot,” he wishes to introduce the French aristocrat Lancelot to Queen Guinivere, who has gone out with the court “a-Maying.” Lancelot is thoroughly baffled by this term … “A-Maying?” he asks. “It’s a sort of picnic,” Arthur explains. “A time for gathering flowers, for eating…
“We are pregnant with a new earth. All of us. The virus is beginning the contractions. Shedding light on our fears as we get closer to the birth. What we are in the process of letting go of What we will take with us. What we will leave behind.” —Kali Quinn, “Learning about the process…
Note: The post below was shared on May 11, 2017, on my personal blog (no longer being published). I share it here today because the idea of Ubuntu is so important in the midst of this global pandemic. Also, it feels appropriate as we are mere days away from welcoming Sara Thomsen back as music…
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” —Genesis 1:3 “The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides, and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered…