"Madeleva Meeting" on Earth Day Celebrations

Last Friday, a group of us gathered at the Province Center, as we do every six weeks or so, for a “Madeleva meeting” -- a time for pizza and conversation and prayer about social justice. It was the day after Earth Day, so we talked about ways in which we and others celebrated the day. It seems to be getting more and more widespread. Someone mentioned a conference in Bolivia of Native American people from around the world, for instance -- concerned about what is happening to Mother Earth and making decisions about what to do.

We also talked about some of the decisions we’ve made over the past few years – not to use bottled water at our Province meetings, for example. And we talked about how we’re growing in our own way of being in relationship to one another and to Earth – more conscious about our mutuality, our oneness in the universe.

The prayer we used expressed some of that – a quote from an ecofeminist,
“… stardust is not just fairy-tale magic; it’s what we are really made of…” and another from Black Elk, a Sioux: “Great Spirit,…. Give me the strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is …”

I always look forward to the Madeleva meetings. I come away enriched and thoughtful – and feeling connected. The meetings are open, by the way. If you’re interested, let us know!
Mary Dowd, OSU