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…
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.…
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…
Growing up on 200 acres of land in the hills of eastern Iowa, nature was woven into the fabric of my life. My family was farmers, and conversations about nature and the weather were commonplace: Were the crops too dry? Was it too wet to bale hay? Praying a new calf wouldn’t be born in…
This year, when festive lights twinkle in homes worldwide, we will find ourselves at a significant milestone. It is the 800th anniversary of a tradition that has, for centuries, symbolized the true essence of Christmas—the crèche. The word crèche originates from the Old French term for a crib or manger. This iconic scene, which reenacts…
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…
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…
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…
One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 46:10: Be still and know that I am God. Recently my spiritual director shared the Hebrew translation of this scripture given by a theologian speaking at her Community meeting: “You have been holding onto something for far too long. Let it fall.” In our binary way of thinking,…
Song for Autumn In the deep fall don’t you imagine the leaves think how comfortable it will be to touch the earth instead of the nothingness of air and the endless freshets of wind? And don’t you think the trees themselves, especially those with mossy, warm caves, begin to think of the birds that will…