Years ago, after returning to Northern Michigan, I drove down an unmarked gravel road in early December on my way to visit a pastor serving a small parish on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Pulling over to the shoulder of the road, I stopped to gaze out into a grey mist. Near the edge of a desolate, snow-covered meadow stood an abandoned log cabin.
Two years earlier I’d traveled into Russia’s isolated Kamchakta Peninsula on the Siberian Coast. For a startling moment, I realized there was no difference between what I was seeing out my window and what my eyes had gazed upon in a faraway forlorn world years before.
Harsh environments and economic deprivation invite us to examine, whether here or in Russia, what values shape resilient, healthy, spiritual communities. Recently I’ve been in transition from leadership roles in ministries of the church, here’s what I’ve seen from a distance:
-Few secular organization match the generosity of faith-based communities. This is confirmed by ongoing studies of philanthropic giving. We’re talking about gifts of time and energy, but also financial resources. (Here in the Upper Peninsula totals of United Way Campaigns pale in relative comparison with individual donations in even our smallest parishes). Most importantly, it’s all done modestly, quietly.
-No institution crosses economic and social class lines like churches and synagogues. After worship you may have the last opportunity left in America to sit with the disabled, the homeless, teachers, miners, physicians and the unemployed to have a cup of coffee at the same table.
– Most secular organizations fall short in matching the effectiveness of faith-based collaborative partnerships. When spiritual communities overcome myopic self-interest with a vision greater than themselves, they seek out interfaith initiatives building a common good, bring energy back to themselves while helping shape a better, kinder world.
The New York Times recently acknowledged the steady decline of organized religion in the United States over the last fifty years. Those choosing to still identify with religious communities need to remain hopeful.
I prefer to remember the admonition of the Dali Lama that hangs on my friend Peter’s sauna door up in Big Bay. “So you think being small can’t make a difference? Try spending a night in a tent alone with a mosquito.”
-Jon
Journal Notes
On the Water
Our annual Spirit of Place kayak retreats remain a signature of the Cedar Tree Institute. They combine encounters with the landscape of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, discussions of spirituality and place, and disciplined engagements of mind/body practices. During July, Lee Goodwin joined the CTI Director in facilitating the 14th such venture along 50 miles of Lake Superior shoreline. Peter Hutter, long-time colleague now working in Alaska, served as kayak guide and instructor. Seven participants joined us from Virginia, Kansas, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Washington State. The Institute’s good friend John Palmquist, a retired geologist, joined us with his wife Carol and friends during our last evening together, informally presenting an overview of the rugged geological history of Lake Superior.
Between Worlds
In 2000, a group of physicians, medical specialists, clergy and social workers met in the early morning dawn for 10 months to help one another improve the quality of care for their end-of-life patients. Michael Grossman and Larry Skendzel, medical directors for Marquette County’s two hospices, worked with the Institute to design this training experience.
Since then, 12 summer trainings and 12 winter retreats have been coordinated with the support of Bell Hospital and Marquette General Hospital. These training programs are shaped by small group dialogues and linked to mind/body practices (hiking, Tai chi, kayaking, and cross-country skiing). This winter’s 2012 retreat was titled “Streams of Light: The Diagnosis and Treatment of Urological Disorders.” Our summer retreat focused on “The Double Helix: Patient Centered Care at the End of Life.”
Celebrating
A hundred friends and supporters of the Cedar Tree Institute joined together at Marquette’s Presque Isle Pavilion for our July 11 festival celebrating completion of our planting of 10,000 Northern white cedar trees over 21 days.
A special tribute was lifted up to Marquette County Probate Judge Michael Anderegg. For the last fifteen years Mike has served as the key support for CTI’s projects with the Juvenile Court’s youth. He retires as Judge at the end of 2012.
Transitioning
On January 29th, 2012, the CTI Director retired from his position as Lutheran (ELCA) Campus Pastor at Northern Michigan University and moved into a more focused role with selected Cedar Tree Institute projects and programs. He remains on the clergy role with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and, along with ongoing environmental and mental health projects, provides various trainings for clergy and faith communities.
Over past months, The Institute sponsored four workshops across the Upper Peninsula. Special thanks to Bill Parkkonen, RN, psychiatric nurse practitioner and Ray Hansenauer, MSW family social worker and psychotherapist, for their assistance. Sixteen faith leaders from three religious traditions participated in the series titled “Riding Ezekiel’s Chariot.” Workshop formats centered on troublesome challenges parishes face regarding mental health issues in community life.
Deepest gratitude to Bob Kraus (former Lutheran Campus Ministry student from 30 years ago in Oregon) and his delightful wife Louise Hanna for providing extraordinary hospitality to the CTI Institute director and his wife during a remarkable 15 days on their coffee farm, in October, for a retreat time of reflection and transition.
Mind/body Medicine
The 2012 Iron Butterfly Series unfolded with two workshops (June & July) targeting practices in the field of mind/body medicine to reduce stress and improve physical health. Thanks to Marquette’s Kelley Mahar, MD, practicing psychiatrist, and Eva Selhub, faculty member with Harvard Medical School, for serving as facilitators. A total of 41 individuals joined us for this series of trainings.
On September 14th, after providing training events at Bell Hospital, Eva presented a public lecture on “The Brain on Nature” at Messiah Lutheran Church with folk musician Michael Waite and dancer Erica Waite opening and closing the evening’s event. Special thanks to Dr. Mike Grossman who helped support Eva’s presence with us.
The Institute’s Tai Chi Classes continue each Wednesday (5:30 – 6:30 p.m.) at Marquette’s Grace United Methodist with an emphasis on health, balance, and mind/body applications.
Administrative Notes
This year, two mailings of The Equinox brought updates to our annual December Ecotone newsletter. Thanks to Gabriel Caplett, organic farmer and community activist, for each issue’s Upper Peninsula Index, a brief, edgy compilation of facts and paradoxes reflecting political, religious, and economic life in Northern Michigan.
Special notes of congratulation to Rick Pietila, currently studying Mandarin in Washington DC with his wife Jackie, preparing for a State Department deployment to China in 2013.
In Memorium
D.C. “Kal” Kalweit (1926 -2012)
From time to time, the church raises up leaders who, by character and personal integrity, provide riveting, positive templates for communities of faith. Raised in Seattle, as a young man, D.C. “Kal” Kalweit served in the Navy during WWII and following a college education, entered Augustana Lutheran Seminary in Rock Island, Illinois. He served a parish in Racine Wisconsin, then accepted a call to Messiah Lutheran Church (ELCA) in 1965.
He was boldly outspoken about justice on social issues and deeply committed to small group ministry and interfaith projects. During an extraordinary pastoral career, he seemed to find a way to protect himself from the ever-shifting temptations of ego inflation and spiritual fragmentation endemic to those of us who are clergy. He presided over my mother’s funeral, later serving as a personal mentor at critical times in my own personal and professional life.
Former colleague Dale Skogman, Synod Bishop from 1992-99, spoke eloquently about Kal’s faithful service during a memorial service on August 15. D.C Kalweit was a warrior among us, a remarkable leader. Prayers go with Nancy his wife and daughters Karin, Linda, and Lisa.
Todd Warner (1952-2012)
Todd Warner served as Director for the Natural Resources Department of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in Baraga since 2006. After a six-month struggle with cancer, he died on July 18th.
Todd served as a connection for the Institute’s work with KBIC in the building of the Zaagkii Native Plants greenhouse, the first of its kind on an American Indian reservation east of the Mississippi. He personally delivered, in the back of a pick-up truck, the first of 2100 lbs of wild rice seed that CTI volunteers planted in a collaborative effort with a group of at-risk youth and tribal members during 2004-2008.
With Todd “time slowed down.” Thoughtful and reflective, he was a lover of the forest, avoider of large crowds, and voracious reader. Todd’s memorial celebration, hosted by family members from Minnesota, occurred in a graceful framework of stories and shared food at his former home on Crescent Street in Marquette on September 22.
Joan Kropp (1945-2012)
School teacher, librarian, avid flower gardener, Joan Kropp was as one family member mentioned, “an enthusiast of power tools.” She embodied a fierce, compassionate spirit.
Joan was the wife, for 43 years, of Noel Kropp, a ELCA Lutheran pastor and chaplain. She was also a high school and confirmation colleague of the Institute director. Over the years, she and Noel were kind friends and supporters of the unfolding dream of the Cedar Tree Institute.
Joan is survived by her husband of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and two daughters Sarah and Connie. On August 4, a group of us gathered under trees in Marquette’s Park Cemetery and, with bells and liturgical prayers, reverently placed a small wooden box of what was left of Joan’s ashes gently into the ground.
The Manitou Project 2012
10,000 Trees / 21 Days
The Northern White Cedar has always been regarded as a sacred tree with Native American peoples of the Upper Great Lakes Basin. Unfortunately, because of development projects and decisions made by the timber industry not to replant this species, the cedar as a resource is threatened.
Jeff Noble, former fire fighter with the State’s Department of Natural Resources and frequent volunteer with CTI projects, reminds us that 50% of the cedar forest has disappeared in the Upper Peninsula over the last 100 years.
Over three weeks this past summer, a small group of volunteer at-risk youth worked with Institute staff and 300 volunteers to mobilize a Peninsula-wide initiative to plant 10,000 seedlings across fifteen counties.
Special thanks to the Lac Vieux Desert Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians and volunteers from churches, environmental groups and the Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum, who along with 119 donors from the Cedar Tree Institute, made this gift to the earth possible.
On July 11, the 10,000 cedar tree was placed into the ground at Marquette’s Presque Isle Park. An extended story of this effort can be found in the December 2012 issue of Marquette Monthly.
Archival giclee colored prints of the art commissioned for this project (“Gisheek: Spirit of the Cedar”) are available for a donation and/or purchase at cedartreeinstitute.org.
Earthkeepers II (2012-2014)
During 2004-2009, Episcopal Bishop Jim Kelsey helped the Cedar Tree Institute coordinate a five-year interfaith initiative focusing on environmental concerns among religious communities across Northern Michigan. Key partners included leaders of ten faith traditions, the Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, and the Nature Conservancy.
In October 2012, the Cedar Tree Institute was invited by the U.S. EPA to organize Earthkeepers II for 2012-2014. Interfaith efforts will focus on increasing energy efficiency in use and maintenance of buildings owned by 40 faith communities across the Upper Peninsula.
Along with this effort – energy audits, educational forums and mini-grants for faith communities – Earthkeepers II will build on a vision to establish and maintain interfaith community gardens. These gardens will be designed to preserve native plants, eliminate invasive species, and provide vegetables, herbs and fruits for food pantries and the wider community.
Thanks to Kyra Fillmore who will be serving as Project Communications Coordinator and to our partner organization Delta Green, who will assist us with technical implementation. Special appreciation to Bishop Tom Skrenes from the Northern Great Lakes Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who is serving as our key interfaith liaison for religious leaders along with Paul Lehmberg, priest of Marquette’s Buddhist community, and Bishop Alex Sample, from the Marquette Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church.
Upcoming Highlights 2012-2014
- 40 PARISH AUDITS with specific recommendations for updating energy use by congregations.
- 40 MINI-GRANTS distributed to faith communities for implementing specific energy conservation measures.
- 25 ENERGY CONSERVATION WORKSHOPS for improving household energy usage by community members.
- 2 CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS (public libraries and university and community college settings) on spiritual perspectives for environmental stewardship.
- SUPPORT FOR 2 UNIVERSITY STUDENT INTERNS who will be learning community-organizing skills during 2012 – 2014.
- 6 STRATEGIC PLANNING RETREATS for EK II representatives from ten regional faith traditions (Jewish, Episcopal, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baha’i, American Friends (Quaker), Unitarian, and United Methodist.
- 15 INTERFAITH COMMUNITY GARDENS established across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with technical assistance from the U.S. Forest Service (Jan Schultz, Chief Botanist, Eastern Region USDAFS) and local organic farmers.
For more information contact Kyra Fillmore at kyra.fillmore@gmail.com or 906-250-7643.
The Zaagkii (Wings and Seeds) Initiative
A Fragile Dream Unfolds
Over the last four years, we’ve worked to restore native plants and protect pollinators – butterflies, insects and bumblebees. Unaware to most of the general public, these small creatures serve as essential building blocks of integrity for the ecosystems that literally hold together the web of plant life around the world. Our team of youth volunteers from the County’s Juvenile Court have provided the “heart” for this project each summer over the last four years. This project owes its thanks to Jan Schultz, Chief Botanist for the Eastern Region of the U.S. Forest Service.
As a part of this initiative, CTI has been working with five regional Indian tribes in assisting them in reclaiming their role as original custodians for the Peninsula’s native plant life. Since 2010, we’ve carried out a series of Kinomaage (“The Earth shows us the Way) workshops. We are now planning our 5th Kinomaage intertribal botanical workshop to be hosted in April, 2013 in collaboration with the Sault Ste Marie Band of Chippewa Indians and the Bay Mills Indian Community.
Tom Biron (Sault Ste Marie tribe) serves as a key coordinator for this project. Scott Herron (Odawa) continues his role as our ethno-botannist and consultant. Our appreciation to April Lindala and the staff of Northern Michigan University’s Center for American Indian Studies for ongoing support and encouragement.
Operational Principles
- The Cedar Tree Institute shall be firmly grounded in spiritual traditions.
- The Institute will carry out its mission quietly and modestly.
- The Institute will own no property &;amp acquire no debt.
In Appreciation
Thanks to 119 individuals from various walks of life across North America who, during 2012, quietly chose to help us financially carry on our work.
With occasional exceptions, we choose to exist outside the radar of conventional nonprofit organizations. The majority of the Institute’s projects are supported by the generosity of those who value the kind of projects we undertake. One third of CTI’s services continue to be provided on a pro-bono basis.
We salute those special folks who have guided CTI in meeting the challenges of the past year: Jim Elder and Steve Mattson, CTI Board members who, with keen vision, assist us navigating the legal and business worlds… Anne Rydholm, our sharp-eyed, good-hearted bookkeeper… Greg Peterson and Obadiah Metivier, talented high-tech specialists… Doug Russell, our grant writer, Mike Grossman and Larry Skendzel, family practice physicians who continue to assist in creative training experiences for hospice workers… Ray Hasenauer, hunter, chef, and gardner… Tim Fillmore, Mari Feld, Mike Shelafoe, and Jeff Noble, who provided leadership for CTI projects… and CTI Research Fellows John Rosenberg, Arvid Sponberg and Rick Pietila who whisper – exactly when the time is right – wise counsel and encouragement.
To all of you… our Thanks!
Services
Consultation, Training & Education
CTI offers site-specific training and education designs for human service agencies, government organizations, churches and businesses in the areas of:
- Leadership Development
- Environmental Projects
- Mind/Body Medicine
- Tai Chi Chuan
- Collaborative Projects with Native American Communities
Mediation & Dispute Resolution
Formal mediation sessions follow a specific process. Settlements that result from such sessions have proven to be more enduring and considerably less expensive than court-ordered decisions. CTI offers this service for:
- Small Claims Conflicts
- Landlord-Tenant Disputes
- Divorce Mediation
- Conflicts within Churches
- Employer-Employee Disagreements
- Business-Consumer Arguments
Counseling & Psychotherapy
The Institute works in collaboration with area hospitals, churches and human service agencies. An emphasis on the uniqueness of each situation and the spirituality inherent in each individual shapes all consultations. CTI offers assistance with:
- Work Difficulties
- Depression
- Relationship Conflicts
- Anxiety and Stress
Coming Up in 2013
CTI Retreats and Workshops
KEEPING BALANCED, KEEPING HEALTHY
Tai Chi
Workshop on Health and Stress Reduction
Fortune Lake Camp, Crystal Falls, Michigan
January 4-5, 2013
(more…)
The Iron Butterfly
Workshop #3 on practical applications of mind/body medicine, with the practice of specific techniques, increasing focus, enhancing the immune system and lowering blood pressure.
June & September, 2013
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
Dreams: God’s Forgotten Language
Workshops for clergy, members and friends and faith communities dealing with practical applications of dream work for spiritual life.
February & March, 2013
LANDSCAPE & SOUL
Spirit of Place
A Kayak Retreat on Lake Superior, with evening discussions on Jewish philosophy. Martin Buber’s classic, small book about perception, “I and Thou.”
August 5-9, 2013
(more…)
Spirit, Line and Landscape
A drawing workshop, with evening discussions on Rollo May’s “Courage to Create.”
October, 2013
The Janus Project
Training for social workers, clergy, hospice volunteers, medical workers, nurses and physicians.
April 5-7, August 23-26, 2013
Thank you for reading the Winter 2013 Ecotone Newsletter, the official Newsletter of the Cedar Tree Institute.
