Finding Your Spiritual Landscape

Are there any places in your life that, when you think of them, evoke a sense of “home” or rootedness? Do you remember a time when you were able to engage in unbridled play—perhaps in a field, a muddy creek, a back yard, or a favorite tree? Do you remember the utter freedom of it? The texture and light of that place and time?

Such memories are woven into our emotional and spiritual DNA; they remind us that our lives are located and rooted in particular places. Places intrinsically shape us and our stories, from the simple to the epic—seas, lakeshores, rivers, desserts, caves, borderlands, prairies, mountaintops. But modern humans often lack a deep sense of connection to the places we inhabit, being busy, preoccupied, or car-bound. Many of us are riddled with a sense of dislocation and disconnection.

A fresh counter to this experience is the art of spiritual landscaping—a set of practices that enable us to cultivate rich spiritual awareness and a renewed land ethic. Spiritual landscaping practices enfold Christian disciplines and support joyful play; they help us relocate ourselves and deepen connections with our ecology and the places we inhabit every day. 

Join theologian Lea Schweitz to explore and reflect on the shaping power of place and begin to metaphorically map your unique spiritual landscape during a half-day workshop at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Through instruction and play, we will learn practices that help us deepen connections with the places we inhabit and better understand the beauty of God’s call to rest, to be joyful (play), and to genuinely connect to the natural world. Join us as we seek to productively take time, pay attention, and adopt new ways of being in the places that shape us.