The last time I spoke the words of the Pledge of Allegiance, I was in high school. It was been over 25 years now, and while I currently work in a school in which the pledge is recited each day, I still do not say the pledge. These days, however, my reasons have grown more nuanced.

"Each time you look at a tangerine, you can see deeply into it. You can see everything in the universe in one tangerine. When you peel it and smell it, it's wonderful. You can take your time eating a tangerine and be very happy."

For 10 days in the tropical rainforests of Darién and the urban landscape of Panama City, scientists and academics converged with theologians, sisters, writers and spiritual seekers to explore the places where ecology, spirituality and science intersect in the context of the web of life. Now that I'm back home in Mexico, Panama lingers in my memory.

From A Nun's Life podcasts - A busy mother of young children wonders how she can adapt "nun prayer practices" to help when she's feeling distant from God.

Franciscan Sr. Ilia Delio's talk at a spirituality retreat was a roller coaster ride through billions of years of cosmic evolution, with plunges into the history of science and philosophy and steep climbs into theology and mysticism.

"Without a constant attachment to my phone, I felt like I was coming down from an overstimulated, frenetic state of being in the world to a more grounded, centered one."

Eighty-one-year-old Loretto Sr. Patricia McCormick likes to call herself a "farm kid from Illinois," but she's spent the last half-century preaching peace in Central America and, now, Denver. McCormick spoke with Global Sisters Report about nuclear disarmament, being pen pals with Jesuit Fr. Dan Berrigan, and the young activists of Black Lives Matter.

Dorothy Day frequently quoted Fyodor Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov: "Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams." Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson strives for love in action. Its website says it is a community of faith, hope, love and witness in the borderlands, briefly citing a history of racial integration and a vision of serving all. I visited the church in late April with a Loretto Community delegation to the border. 

Notes from the Field - I felt I was starting as a Good Shepherd Volunteer with my gas tank already on empty. But much to my surprise, my year of service provided me with the rejuvenation I was yearning for.

One of our novices asked me to share my experience of living the vowed life. I looked forward to an honest conversation — I wanted her to know the gift religious life is for me. After 59 years, it is still the best decision I ever made! Her first question, however, took me off guard. "What is a metaphor for your relationship with the hierarchical church?"