By anna blaedel Tonight, the first sliver of a new moon will emerge in the night sky. For as long as I can remember, finding the moon in the night sky has been an orienting practice. Grounding, comforting. Harvest moons, glowing orange and full on the horizon. Crescent slivers waxing into full, bright spheres, waning into darkness. My grandma then mom used to sing a lullaby about the moon being a silver cradle, rocking way up in the sky, keeping company with nighttime candle stars. My youngest niece, knowing only an early bedtime, marveled at her first glimpse of a full moon, dubbing it,...

By Andrés Herrera Gré “Living in multiple worlds: this means having multiple experiences at once in the world. Often tied to multiple ways of being excluded or having many identities which compete for space.” - Naomi Ortiz, Sustaining Spirit: Self-care for Social Justice I have been reflecting on these words from Naomi Ortiz since the first time I read them. They gave voice to something deep within me. On one hand, I have literally lived in many worlds (places), moving across Latin America and the Caribbean as a child and teenager, and then living in the US for short periods of time as an...

By Anna Blaedel true, this isn’t paradise but we come at last to love it for the sweet hay and the flowers rising, for the corn lining up row on row, for the mourning doves who open the darkness with song, for warm rains and forgiving fields, and for how, each day, something that loves us tries to save us –lucille clifton At dusk on the evening of the last New Moon, just a few days ago, I was chopping garlic and grating ginger when the light in the kitchen shifted, startling me to attention. The sky glowed golden, then orange, then fiery red like the leaves falling from the sugar maples...

by elba morales I always wanted to be that girl who meditated. Early in the morning, the sun is peeking out. Birds are chirping. The ideal me is awake with a messy but chic bun piled on my head, caffeinated with my fair-trade locally purchased coffee, I make my way to the bay window (that I don’t have) in my spacious living room where the light shines on the perfectly clean hardwood floor. I roll out my yoga mat, and sit comfortably. No sound except for the warm breeze rustling the curtain. I close my eyes and think of nothing for twenty minutes. I focus on my breathing, I am calm. At the...

By Anna Blaedel During the very earliest days of the pandemic, I went for a lot of very long walks. Hours and hours, mile after mile after mile. I walked my neighborhood, I walked neighborhoods I had never seen. I walked in the woods and along the river and through a precious patch of prairie. I walked across town, and walked myself right out of town. I spent a lot of time walking in the graveyard up the hill from my house, lingering near my great-grandmother’s grave. While I walked, I cried. I prayed. I sang. I paid attention to what was happening within and around me. A practice of...

by Rev. Jeanelle Nicolas Ablola "We must be solidarious, meaning one with everybody, with the care of the planet, and we must be willing to accompany people’s movements for their rights, justice, peace. And so I put my education and my experience and my commitment to that service.” - Rev. Marta Benavides I heard a podcast once about humpback whales saving a seal from an orca attack.* One of the whales swam belly up, and put the seal on its belly. When it seemed like the seal might slip off during their escape, the whale would raise a fin to guide the seal back onto its belly.* Humpback...