Disconnect from your Hardware and Reconnect to your Heartware

Competent educators know from their own experiences that little of what we learn is from listening; a bit more is learned from seeing; but the deepest learning is from being involved. Discussing in a classroom the spiritual connections of humanity to the earth may see some nodding off but see those same people wake up and become fully engaged when outdoors, getting their hands dirty, and hearing the wind through the pines and smelling the pungent prairie following a rain storm. Climbing the highest mountain between the Rocky Mountains and the Pyrenees is one way to remember that fact; understanding how many spiritual giants have climbed the mountain as part of their spiritual journey before them engages our seekers more deeply in their own spiritual growth as they see their own footsteps following the ancestors footprints.

Outdoor educators see transformation inside and out when people sleep close to the ground, grow their own food and build sustainable housing for low income communities. We at Borderlands are blessed to see this transformation each year – and apparently people at home see that transformation as well because we have a growing community of congregations sending their pilgrims back to Borderlands three and four times. The summer of 2012 has confirmations from four returning congregations and one new congregation – and the new one is from California, our first group from the west!!

We continue to offer an outstanding site for spiritual seekers and pilgrims; a respite for those who need healing or rest; a place to call home for awhile; a gathering place for families and friends and a base for advocacy for First Nations civil rights and cultural respect. Putting our prayers and ideologies into action, we continue to be engaged with people and organizations in efforts to protect this prairie from development and respect the sacred site that it is for the Lakota nation. Most importantly Lakota ceremonies continue to take place here as they have for thousands of years – ceremonies for peace and unity. It is a timeless place, a thin place, a place where the curtain between heaven and earth is barely visible.

At each year end we at Borderlands have depended upon the financial gifts of our friends across the country and in this year when the economic downturn (only three groups in 2011) hit Borderlands, we are more dependent upon your gifts to get us through in the black. For our old friends, we thank you for your support in the past and for considering your continuing support of this ministry. For our new friends, we hope that our mission is a compelling one for you to support with your gifts no matter how large or how small. They all add up to hope for the future and making a difference in this world. We pray for you and your loved ones in this gifted season of gratefulness.

May the peace of Christ bring you joy and contentment in 2012. Peace, Linda Kramer Founding Director Borderlands Education and Spiritual Center