Environment
The earth is not a backdrop to the Gospel — it is part of it. These posts gather voices who believe that caring for creation is inseparable from following Jesus: writers who listen to trees, learn from salamanders, mourn droughts, celebrate fireflies, and show up to fight for sacred land. Whether you’re looking for theology, poetry, practical action, or just a reminder that the ground beneath your feet is holy, this is a place to deepen your love for the world God made — and to figure out what that love asks of you.
Neither created nor destroyed
Last month, as Chicago and other Midwest cities made headlines for smoky skies, I donned my mask and headed outside. A certain sadness, much like…
A Spiritual Lesson From the Salamanders
Over Christmas break, after the brutal winter storm gave way to unseasonal warmth, my sister and I made a clandestine visit to the property where…
Sister Teresa Maya: Building a Common Home
Episode 56 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Stitcher | Email | RSS | More “Community extends beyond just a group I belong to……
Dorothy Fortenberry: Climate and Creation
Episode 55 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Stitcher | Email | RSS | More “We all will be affected by climate change… can…
The spirituality of dumpster diving
I started dumpster diving because of free boxes. I live on the edge of Hyde Park, an affluent neighborhood surrounding the University of Chicago on…
Sister Roselyn Heil: Spiritual Physics and Barefoot Belief
Season 5, Episode 9 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. “Going barefoot connects me to the Earth, which connects me to…
To Listen to the Trees: A Review of “The Overstory”
When I was in first grade, I made a stapled-together picture book about the pear tree in our yard called “My Friend the Tree.” I…
Being Catholic on Indigenous Peoples’ Day: We need to do more
In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here … I sang these words with a chorus of climate and Indigenous activists on a humid June…