How many of these names do you recognize: Destiny Watford, Marilyn Baptiste, Helen Slottje, or Kimberly Wasserman? These are the four most recent winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize for North America. They are women doing the unthinkable. Watford halted the production of an enormous incinerator next to public schools in south Baltimore. Baptiste defeated one of the largest gold and…
Category: Chicago
Mothering and a Goose
My family tells a story about my mother as a young girl on a family outing. The only thing I know about this outing is that my mom was bitten by a Canada goose (Branta canadensis). Technically, since geese don’t have teeth, the story may be slightly exaggerated, but there is truth in it. Geese…
A Summer Bestiary
What did you do this summer? We met a polar bear. We were as up-close and personal to one of these magnificent creatures as we will ever be. We were at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin. It is a very intimate space. You see the animals, and it’s pretty clear that they see…
Making Photographs
Guest post by Thomas Jay Oord A theologian. With a camera. Exploring nature. In Chicago. Those four elements introduce intriguing possibilities and enlightening experiences. I know, because I am that theologian-photographer who made photographs in Chicago. Making Photographs I say I “make” photographs. Good photography often results when a photographer works from a vision and uses…
Sluggish Faith: Act Two
Recall act one from the last post. Woman walking to work. Finds slug. Pokes it with a stick. Lessons learned about noticing connections, full-bodied faith, and hanging on. Sluggish faith clings on. Act two. The camera pulls back on the scene. Act one was the close-up. The focus was drawn close, an intimate portrait of…
Sluggish Faith: Act One
When water and worms emerge on Chicago sidewalks after April rains, walking is like a game of hopscotch. On a recent Monday morning, I half-stepped, half-jumped my way to get to my writing group. Most Mondays, the walk comes after the marathon-sprint to get the kiddos dressed, fed, in the car, and on the way…
Roadkill and Resurrection Animals
My first urban nature piece was about an encounter with an opossum in my backyard with my toddler. We peered at one another for a long time through the window of our patio door. No one really knew what to make of the other. The encounter was suppose to tell a story about the about the opossum…
Squirrels as Spiritual Icons
A warm welcome to photographer/theologian Thomas Jay Oord. Thank you for your guest post! As far as I know, no scripture or great piece of spiritual literature praises the squirrel. We find references to foxes, eagles, snakes, and locusts. Judah is a lion. Doves are harmless. Sparrows have value, even though not much. But nothing…
Dog Days of Winter
Dog days are suppose to be reserved for the summer, but I feel them in my heart in the gray, windy, last gasps of Midwestern winter. Dog days of winter. When the wind still bites at the tips of noses and fingers. Before the sun has returned in glory to the sky. Before the warmth…
Singing with Owls
The images for this post were taken at night in Nichols Park in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago (photo credit: Dr. Thomas Oord). For years, I lived in an apartment that overlooked this very spot. But, I never would have seen it like this, not at night. My backyard was simply unavailable after the…
Wow, Maple Trees
In our house, bedtime prayers follow Anne Lamott’s essentials: “Help. Thanks. Wow.” It’s not because this is the best or only way to pray, but for us it takes a very abstract practice into a lived liturgy. Help. Thanks. Wow. Some days, we can manage that. However, we usually begin with thanks. On a good…
For the Birds
Today, we are taking 15 minutes to count birds in our backyard. We are joining thousands of amateur birders in the Great Backyard Bird Count. It is held annually in February as a grand citizen science project. Here are some of the questions that participation in the bird count by folks around the world can…
Wild Sparrows 