HOW IT BEGAN: In the fall of 2008, I returned to my hometown, Cedar Rapids, after living 30 years in Milwaukee. By the fall of 2009, I felt the need for a retreat and stopped by Prairiewoods, a retreat center I’d heard about located on a new (for me) road—Boyson. After the retreat I asked Sr.…
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…
These are difficult times. Events unfolding in the Middle East are unimaginably horrific. How do any of us imagine a way forward from the terrible violence we are witnessing now, and how do we find a new way that does not perpetuate more terror and pain? I have returned to a poem by Denise Levertov…
Recently the ongoingness of my life journey has become clearer. I have become aware of some wide patterns I seem to live, one in particular. Throughout my life I have enjoyed “moving on”—I start an adventure/experience, dig into the learning and practices, become knowledgeable and/or somewhat proficient; and then something new will catch my attention…
Self-described “author and integrator” Jeremy Lent, who will be visiting Prairiewoods in April for Spirituality in the 21st Century, calls for creating a new web of meaning to enable the development of an ecological civilization in which “all humans flourish as part of a thriving Earth.” Following the flood in Cedar Rapids in 2008 I…
In relationship there is no joining, no parting. It is the strengthening, the weakening. of the universal one, the divine, the strands of the web. We are all part, all part of each other, physically present, spiritually flowing. To be with this, is to be with that, to be with you. To feel as we part,…
Have you heard the phrase holding space? One person can hold space for another by just listening to what they have to say—without judging, without problem-solving, without comparing their experiences. It is a loving, compassionate act. Sometimes holding space can mean literally “holding space,” offering someone a place to be as they sort things out…
What is Peace? What does it mean? It’s more than a cessation of war, of violence or fighting. It’s more than keeping up a façade of pleasantness, or “appropriate” behavior. It goes much deeper than appearances, pat phrases or pretense. Deep within, we are connected. Connected with everyone and everything, vibrating and oscillating, breathing with…
Today, gratitude remains one of my favorite spiritual practices. “Every day is gift.” I know it soul-deep. Daily I’m grateful for all that Earth offers us. As children, my sisters and brothers knew the blood, sweat and tears that nourished Garden. We ate most of the year from her harvest and while we weren’t, as…
“Values according to which we conduct our lives will shape the future.” —Jeremy Lent, The Web of Meaning, p. 5 So what are the values that enliven Prairiewoods? What is the future emerging here? For that I look to the core values of the Franciscans who founded Prairiewoods so many years ago. Respect—We honor one…