Open Our Eyes – Mar. 20, 2023
“The very places Indiana bats trusted to preserve them betrayed them. Cool, dark, and humid, cave air not only holds bats in metabolic equipoise, it also invigorates a fungus new to North America. Brought from Europe on spelunkers’ gear, spores of the fungus multiplied rampantly in caves of northeastern states, then spread farther and faster […]
Walking into Exile – Mar. 1, 2023
“Exile in our own time is more than enduring strange foods and finding one’s way on unfamiliar terrain. Exile means that you are not at home. You are in a place where you do not want to be, leaving home without a change of address. More to the point, you are in a place where […]
Take Off Your Shoes – Feb. 28, 2023
“Whenever I pass the majestic mosque in my city, I find myself wishing that we would emulate our Muslim neighbors who leave their shoes at the door. We can grow almost too comfortable and easy, almost casual in our relationship with the high-voltage God whom theologian Rudolf Otto termed “a tremendous and fascinating mystery.” But […]
Lost – Feb. 13, 2023
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside youAre not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,Must ask permission to know it and be known.The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,I have made this place around you.If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.No two trees are the same […]
