Stef Coleman - Grounded

Grounded

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Submitted by Kathleen Owens (she/her), Manager of Clergy Programming and Communications for the Center for Clergy Renewal at Holy Wisdom Monastery Stef Coleman was six months into a new call in the city of Chicago when a colleague who had come to Holy Wisdom Monastery for a Deep Breath, suggested checking out what is available through the Center for Clergy Renewal. Stef remembers feeling like “I was always being poured out” when she found Contemplative Renewal Immersions on the website. The idea of being part of a cohort of pastors in similar life positions or ministry contexts was appealing. “I …

Community of Joy – Phyllis Lobdell

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It is a warm feeling to know that someone is expecting you and that they are glad you came. It was a beautiful fall day when I had the pleasure of meeting Phyllis in the courtyard of the Retreat and Guest House. I was honored to spend the hour with her and learn more about her life and connection to Holy Wisdom. Phyllis discovered Holy Wisdom as a personal retreatant from Illinois back in 2011. “I was sole care-giver for my mother and I needed to find a place for some respite. I found Holy Wisdom Monastery on the internet …

November phenology

Holy Wisdom MonasteryCare for the Earth, Friends of Wisdom Prairie, Phenology 2 Comments

By Sylvia Marek Phenology is the science of recording plant and animal activities from year to year and their relationship to season and climate. November events can vary when the month is warmer or cooler, wetter or dryer than average. The following Madison area observations are from notes I have kept over the years. November Phenology for Holy Wisdom “Let’s just wander here and there like floating leaves in the autumn air and look at little things….From the winds we’ll catch a bit of that feeling, that wondrous feeling that comes not from seeing, but from being part of nature.” –Author …

Fall Spectacles

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Submitted by David Kelley (he/him),Friends of Wisdom Prairie Volunteer “Don’t you imagine the leaves dream nowhow comfortable it will be to touchthe earth instead of thenothingness of the air and the endlessfreshets of wind?” – Mary Oliver, Song for Autumn It’s early spring. Warm air, sunshine and rainfall abound. High in the canopy, tree buds have been waiting all winter for this. They burst open in all manner of green as trees awaken from a long winter’s slumber. As temperatures continue to rise, the leaves spread out as summer sun pumps life into the forest. Like millions of tiny solar …

David McKee’s Homily from Oct. 26, 2025

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Dizang asked Fayan, “Where are you going?” Fayan said, “Around on pilgrimage.” Dizang said, “What is the purpose of pilgrimage?” Fayan said, “I don’t know.” Dizang said, “Not knowing is most intimate.” This Zen Buddhist teaching story has been rattling around in my mind for the last couple of years, particularly the punch line:  Not knowing is most intimate.  I think it goes to the heart of our ongoing efforts to live a shared life of humility, hospitality, compassion, and care–care for ourselves, for one another, for our society, for the earth.  All of these aspects of our life are …

Beyond the Bloom

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Submitted by Janet Neurauter (she/her),Mission Advancement Consultant Join us Friday, November 14, 2025, from 6:00-8:00 pm for the opening reception of Beyond the Bloom, featuring work by Maron Massey. This exhibit will be available for viewing November 5, 2025 – February 3, 2026. Some of Maron Massey’s first memories are of creating art with her family. “My mom, dad, and siblings were always making art together. We were constantly working on projects – even the ones from the ‘Highlights’ magazine for children!” By the time she was a senior in high school, she was allowed to create her own independent …

Embracing humility in a world where “image” is everything

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Submitted by Everline Jeruto, OSB (she/her),Benedictine Women of MadisonReprinted from Oblate News In today’s world, everything is dominated by screens with images of people’s lives that have been carefully planned, from the posed photographs posted on Instagram to the rehearsed dance moves on TikTok. In the era of images, personal branding is the trend, and people have a habit of showing a perfect life. With so much comparison and the need to appear perfect, humility is a rare thing but a basic quality that can keep us from being lost in a shallow world. And it keeps us from believing …

Pam Shellberg’s Homily from Oct. 19, 2025

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This morning’s gospel reading from Luke is tremendously difficult and would be so much better dealt with in a classroom or a formal bible study. And even in those spaces we’d be in for a hard slog. Many biblical commentators consider it one of the most difficult parables. My clergy friends say, “this gospel doesn’t preach.” So today we, like Jacob, are going to really wrestle with the Holy One. We will probably all walk out limping. But if we let the parable do its work, we might leave with a blessing, too. Parables were Jesus’ way of “teaching” – …

Unguarded

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Submitted by Kathleen Owens (she/her), Manager of Clergy Programming and Communications for the Center for Clergy Renewal at Holy Wisdom Monastery Michael Anderson stumbled across the Center for Clergy Renewal (CCR) while on a personal retreat at Holy Wisdom Monastery. His interest in CCR led to joining the fourth cohort of Contemplative Renewal Immersions. In the Immersion he found “people who were speaking the same language.” Reflecting on his first immersion in the summer of 2023, Michael says, “What I experienced was no less than the presence of the risen Christ standing among us, breathing peace. It couldn’t be anything …

Rex Piercy’s Homily from Oct. 12, 2025

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Last month marked fifty years since my ordination.  I’ve been doing this for a long time! As I prepared this homily it occurred to me that I have been preaching for even longer. I think my first attempt was on a so-called “Youth Sunday” in my hometown Iowa church as a high school kid. And, Lord, have mercy, I had a student parish assignment during my seminary years in Dubuque. Those gentle souls in McGregor, Iowa must have been very patient and tolerant with their wet-behind-the-ears, twenty something preacher. Over the years of my ministry, first in United Methodist churches in …