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Category Archives: spirituality
Kiss the ground
This Thanksgiving weekend is a good time to thank the Earth for providing all our food. Because the trees, the plants, the crops are listening . . . Emigdio Ballon, a Quechua man from Bolivia, is an agronomist and plant … Continue reading
Posted in nature, spirituality
Tagged animism, biodiversity, bioregional animism, indigenous traditions, organic
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In memory of a ponderosa pine friend
While the Fourmile Fire was still burning, I started hunting through my photos. The fire was advancing toward—maybe had already passed through—Bald Mountain. Where were my photos of the ancient tree on its western slope? Just the day before the … Continue reading
Posted in nature, spirituality
Tagged forest fires, life and death, ponderosa pine, trees, wildfire
25 Comments
What about that mosque at Ground Zero?
In 2004 I was hired to help edit the book What’s Right with Islam Is What’s Right with America by Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam and educator who is spearheading plans to construct a Muslim cultural center—not a mosque—two blocks … Continue reading
Posted in politics, spirituality
Tagged Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, interfaith dialogue, religion, Sufism
9 Comments
10 ways to give back to the Earth
The conversation around the table turned to the gushing oil in the Gulf of Mexico, the sense of powerlessness we all feel to do anything about it. We know our lifestyle is driving the need for oil. We know how … Continue reading
Posted in education, nature, politics, spirituality
Tagged attitudes toward nature, food, natural resource, organic, reciprocity, sustainability
21 Comments
Even bindweed brings gifts
It’s the bane of gardeners throughout the arid West—the boa constrictor of the weed world, twirling nasty vines around other plants, stretching its stringy rhizomes underground for what appear to be miles. Gardeners in Boulder joke that “it’s all just … Continue reading
Posted in nature, spirituality
Tagged attitudes toward nature, ethnobotany, native plants, TEK, traditional environmental knowledge, weeds
19 Comments
Mud love
I sprained my ankle last night—pretty bad, as the history of sprains in my life goes. I was minutes away from leaving for my ceramics class when I took the spill. And the fall led to an evening with mud, … Continue reading
Where science and religion meet: The natural world
Update May 3: This post appears in the Scientia Pro Publica blog carnival hosted this week by marine biologist Kelsey Abbot at the Mauka to Makai blog. Check out some of the fascinating science writing available at the carnival, such … Continue reading
Posted in education, nature, spirituality
Tagged natural history, science, science and religion, science education
27 Comments