More than a Forest

“When a forest gets to be this old and untouched, it becomes something more than a forest. It becomes what we would think of as a mind, with history, knowledge, memory, and foresight.”

  • Rick Bass

To learn about and/or register for Santa Sabina Center online retreats and offerings, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page.

Observe the Wonders

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don’t claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.”

  • Jalaluddin Rumi

To learn about and/or register for Santa Sabina Center online retreats and offerings, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page.

Each to their Own Place

Every being has its own important and unique place in the cosmic dance.

  • Lawrence Overmire

To learn about and/or register for Santa Sabina Center online retreats and offerings, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page.

Listening to the Divine through the Natural World

Lilacs in Lilacia Park in Lombard, Illinois

[T]he divine communicates to us primarily through the language of the natural world. Not to hear the natural world is not to hear the divine.

– Thomas Berry, The Sacred Universe (2009) 

To learn about and/or register for Santa Sabina Center online retreats and offerings, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page.

Gardens Say “I Love You”

A garden is a way that the land says, “I love you.”…Gardens are simultaneously a material and a spiritual undertaking.

  • Robin Wall Kimmerer

To learn about and/or register for Santa Sabina Center online retreats and offerings, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page.

Only Sacred Places

There are no sacred and unsacred places; there are only sacred and desecrated places.

  • Wendell Berry
Sea Wall at Bolinas Beach

To learn about and/or register for Santa Sabina Center online retreats and offerings, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page.

We Are a One-Day Dandelion

“We are so brief. A one-day dandelion. A seedpod skittering across the ice. We are a feather falling from the wing of a bird. I don’t know why it is given to us to be so mortal and to feel so much. It is a cruel trick, and glorious.”

  • Louise Erdrich
Dandelion in Glacier National Park

To learn about and/or register for Santa Sabina Center online retreats and offerings, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page.

To Be Alive

“To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe — to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it — is a wonder beyond words.”

  • Joanna Macy

To learn about and/or register for Santa Sabina Center online retreats and offerings, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page.

We Are Ocean

We feel like separate water droplets but we are also ocean.

  • Jane Hirshfield
Sunset from Steep Ravine Campground

To learn about and/or register for Santa Sabina Center online retreats and offerings, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page.

The Ground Is Our Ancestors

“You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that Earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that Earth is our mother. Whatever befalls Earth, befalls the children of Earth. If humans spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

This we know. Earth does not belong to us; we belong to Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.”

  • Chief Seattle
Devil’s Tower

To learn about and/or register for Santa Sabina Center online retreats and offerings, please go to: http://www.santasabinacenter.org/retreats-page.