"Our liminality is before our eyes these days; it takes no lengthy discernment process to name it. Everything is both familiar and unfamiliar, named and unnamed, known and unknown. Certainty seems a thing of the past as the reality of vulnerability sinks in; it holds both threat and promise."

It's late, and the autumn insect chorus is accompanied tonight by the hum of a tractor still harvesting corn many hours after sunset. As I glance out the window to see the headlights moving slowly to and fro in the neighboring field, I muse that the farmer is probably trying to beat the rain in tomorrow's forecast. It seems somehow fitting that these plants should be harvested just as they sprouted: in the dark.

See for Yourself - Perhaps many of us have always wanted to be able to play a musical instrument. If we have two sturdy arms and two capable hands, we can look at an instrument, such as a violin or a flute or a trumpet, and ask ourselves, "What are we waiting for? What's holding us back?"

"Change is something desirable, yet it becomes a source of anxiety when it causes harm to the world and to the quality of life of much of humanity."

There is something unsettling about liminality's blurry boundaries and unclear surroundings yet, as I continue to learn, it is unreal to expect complete certainly, clarity, and confidence. As much as l long to look out to a vast horizon where land and sky are clearly marked off, each to their own separate territory, there's also an unreachable "more" that stretches out beyond my grasp.

Next month, about 200 people will convene at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco for the Digital Citizenship Summit. There, they and countless others joining via livestream will hear from media and tech experts on how emerging media can be used in ways that are "safe, savvy and ethical." One of the experts that attendees will hear from is Daughter of St. Paul Sr. Nancy Usselmann, the director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies.

"To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour."

The United Nations shone a spotlight on the worldwide migrant and refugee crisis this week. U.N. leaders are calling the Sept. 19 summit and connected events — including a meeting of global leaders called by President Barack Obama — historic but also necessary given the record number of people moving because of wars, political unrest, economic challenges and climate change.

Loma Miranda is one of the most biodiverse mountains in the Dominican Republic and is known as a "green curtain" that collects humidity from the Caribbean clouds to provide 80 percent of the region's water. It acts as a natural barrier, protecting surrounding communities from cyclones and other natural disasters but is also rich in nickel ore and owned in part by a Canadian mining company. Locals want Loma Miranda to become a national park.