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Bringing Healing to the Spirit of a Land and Its Peoples

Established in 1995, The Cedar Tree Institute is a nonprofit organization providing services and initiating projects in the areas of mental health, interfaith collaboration, and the environment. Based in Northern Michigan, it offers mental health services on an individual basis, works with faith communities and environmental groups, and is involved in ongoing partnerships with the US Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Forest Service, and five American Indian tribes.

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Ecotone and Equinox Newsletters

Lake Superior
EcotoneNewslettersWater Stewards II

Winter 2025 Ecotone Newsletter

Gently turning over the chimney glass of an oil lamp in my hands, I use a soft cloth to remove streaks of soot from the lamp’s recent use in our cabin’s sauna. It’s a task I regularly attend to. For a couple of special reasons. First, it connects me to my grandmother Ada, who grew up in a sod-framed Kansas farmhouse in the 1880’s. She lef home at sixteen, headed alone to Denver on a coal-burning steam train. Purchased a guitar there, found work cleaning houses and providing child care for the wealthy. From family’s archives, we’ve learned she...
Equinox Fall 2024
EquinoxNewslettersWater Stewards II

Fall 2024 Equinox Newsletter

As far as music goes, there are special moments, I think most would agree, that have shaped each of us in unforgettable ways. In my case, there was a joy-filled accordion player during my youth. On the North Shore of Minnesota, a sixty-year-old family friend made the world dance for me during summer nights as our family gathered at his family’s log cabin which he’d built with his own hands. Then there was a particular solo, sung during a wedding in Seattle, based on a folk tune from Appalachia. You could hear a pin drop in that sanctuary because...
Spring 2024 Equinox Newsletter
EquinoxNewsletters

Spring 2024 Equinox Newsletter

I’m sitting in the office of a 45-year-old police officer. We’re in a modest brick building a few hundred yards up a ridge overlooking the harbor of a small fishing town in Alaska. I’m curious how he sees the human heart. What he’s learned from over 20 years working in this one-time booming salmon fishing community known as the Gateway to the Inland Passage. He tells me the homeless population soared here in recent years, as it has across most cities and towns in North America. He mentions the increase in crystal meth use, the influx of illegal drugs...
Ecotone Newsletter Winter 2024
EcotoneNewsletters

Winter 2024 Ecotone Newsletter

We are part of sacred work of which we may never see the ending. -Oscar Romero, Bishop of El Salvador.Outspoken advocate for the poor. Assassinated 1980. I have a friend who lives on the Pacific Coast of Washington State. For over forty years he’s worked in various capacities as a non-Native with a small, vibrant Native American tribe, most significantly as part of their Treaty Protection Task Force. He’s engaging and intense, skilled in navigating the complexities of cross-cultural interactions. One early morning along a rocky shoreline trail on Puget Sound, I remember him emerging from the cold waters...
Fall 2023 Equinox Newsletter
EquinoxNewsletters

Fall 2023 Equinox Newsletter

A small group of us gather in a circle in the lobby of an old historic Inn on the edge of the Huron Mountains here in Northern Michigan. Among us are three social workers, a retired physician, a writer, a nurse, a retired firefighter, four clergy. We’re exploring our various experiences of being personally lost over the years. Physically. Emotionally. Spiritually. There’s plenty to talk about. As our point of reference, we’re using the insights of Lawrence Gonzales. In 1989 he published “Deep Survival.” The author was fascinated by why some individuals find their way out after being lost...
Equinox Spring 2023 Newsletter
EquinoxNewsletters

Spring 2023 Equinox Newsletter

Recently, a respected, beloved musician in our community invited me over for a visit to her home. She graciously gave permission to share a portion of our conversation with readers of this newsletter. That particular afternoon, she, her husband, and I sat in the living room of their modest home not far from the shores of Lake Superior. A few steps away was the entry to her music studio where, over the years, she taught students lessons on a beautiful grand piano. It’s a cherished piece of craftsmanship; one upon which she’s practiced classical music from Bach, Beethoven, and...

Spirituality and Environment

Articles on Spirituality and the Environment by the Institute Director along with occasional guest writers.

The Return Documentary