Sacred Acts

Every morning I go outside, step into my little backyard, get down on my hands and knees and kiss Mother Earth. I push my forehead into her body, I smell her green, soil sweetness, I thank her for loving me and tell her how much I love her. These past few weeks I find myself taking…

Field of Monarchs

Field of Monarchs After Mary Oliver Come with me into the field of monarchs, where all day their long thin legs hang on swaying flowers Come marvel at the edging on their wings, delicate as Tiffany glass, dots of white so precise they could be painted and the orange wings glowing in the sun like…

Recalling a Monarch Moment

This morning I’m walking in the prairie just beyond the gardens, when suddenly, amazingly, around the bend I stumble into a village of monarchs. Hundreds of them, everywhere in this field of white flowers just opening—and you get the sense this is a Grand Opening—a big party, an orgy, monarchs fluttering from flower to flower,…

A Bouquet of Thorns

A direct encounter with Jesus in a Prairiewoods tree taught me how God shares life with each of us individually. During a 2015 Prairiewoods retreat called “Beauty is the Path to God’s Life,” led by Father John Quigley, OSF, I discovered some answers to questions I had about reconciling suffering and hardship. Honestly, the world…