Things are not what they appear. That observation, if you agree with it, is disruptive. If we’re honest, it can also bring a sigh of relief.
Autumn in the Northern Great Lakes Basin is beginning. A remarkable shift in the forest’s appearance will make itself known. It remains startling to remember that leaves, for the most part, actually don’t turn color. The changes we witness shifting in the forest’s colored canopy occur as green chlorophyll fades. Each fall, leaves of deciduous trees reveal their true colors. The dazzling display was hidden in the summer We just didn’t see them.
There’s a parallel with a mind/body practice called “sight-shifting.” It’s a way of choosing to see things. Here’s how, where, and when I first learned it.
Years ago, in graduate school, I also served as a part-time pastor for an inner-city parish. One responsibility was to visit members of our congregation referred to as “shut-ins.” Several resided in nursing homes. Most of those facilities, at the time, were in bad shape, unregulated, underfunded, understaffed.
One afternoon I paid a visit to a parishioner who was physically disabled, suffering from dementia. She was well over 90 years of age. It was midsummer. The air-conditioning wasn’t working. It was humid, stifling hot. A stench of formaldehyde and urine filled the air. I didn’t want to be there.
This member of our parish and I had never met before. She was in a wheelchair. A nurse’s aide sat by her side, feeding her applesauce with a small spoon. Months before, my wife and I had been gifted with the birth of our daughter Samantha. As a parent, I was just beginning to appreciate what it means to feed a three-month-old.
For my visit, I brought a prayer book. Before opening it, I hesitantly asked the aide if I could, for a few moments, feed this elderly nursing home resident. The aide graciously nodded her head. It was apparent she appreciated a brief break from her duties.
As I lifted the spoon, I looked into a worn, aged face, eyes half closed. For a second I envisioned her as a small infant not unlike our newborn daughter. A moment later, I imagined her as a teenager, then a young woman. She became, for me in that moment, transfigured.
Years passed. I now regularly use this practice of “sight shifting” with those who are elderly and infirm, but also with children and young adults. In the latter instance, I apply the opposite trajectory. I choose briefly to envision how they may physically appear in 20, 50, 70 years.
It’s proved, for me, to be a useful spiritual practice. It can bring one to our knees in terror. Other times, into levels of wonder. A reminder, as with changing colors of autumn leaves, that something true and fascinating may be waiting, when the time is right, to reveal itself.
Fall 2025 Equinox Newsletter
CONTENTS
JOURNAL NOTES
“Bones of the Earth: Stone, Rock, and the Spiritual Life” is a 3-day retreat scheduled for October in Big Bay, Michigan. This is the most recent of CTI’s “Spirit of Place” retreats. They’ve taken place along the shores of Lake Superior, at a Franciscan retreat center on the Mexican border, on Indian reservations in the Pacific Northwest, and at a Benedictine Abbey north of Santa Fe. We look forward to Chuck Tomas and two geologists, along with poets, musicians, and theologians, who will be leading us in an encounter with the intriguing geology of the Great Lakes Basin.
The Institute is delighted to assist in hosting Joseph Anael Mlaki for three days in September. Rev. Mlaki, an African leader of the faith community in his country, currently serves as pastor of the Azania Front Cathedral in Dar es Salaam. Joseph is part of a nine-person delegation from Tanzania visiting Messiah Lutheran Church here in Marquette.
On September 7th, CTI provided a Tai Chi workshop for those recovering from addictions as part of the 2025 Recovery Festival held at Marquette Commons. Thanks to Fred Gross, a friend of CTI, for his leadership and coordination of that event. A physician and accomplished keyboard musician, Fred is a member of a jazz group that recently performed at Kogniosjon Bryggeri.
This past June, Innovate Marquette, a Marquette young professionals organization, worked with CTI staff to integrate specific mind-body practices as a part of their annual summer retreat. The focus of that time together in Mattson Park was to increase empathy, and build deeper, more effective communication skills.
Michael Grossman, Medical Director for UP Home Health and Hospice and Great Lakes Recovery, continues to provide support and encouragement for a grant proposal submitted by The Cedar Tree Institute for a 2026 training project. It is part of an effort to provide increased medical service for remote areas in Northern Michigan. We’re honored to welcome the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and Harvard Medical School as partners in this initiative. Announcement of grant recipients is scheduled for November.
Kudos to Makari Rising who, this past May, completed studies at Northern Michigan University for a graduate degree in Social Work. Makari was the documentary film-maker for “The Return.” The film traces the story of the reburial of Fr. Jacques Marquette’s bones to their original gravesite in Mackinac County. In June, the film was featured at a commemoration sponsored by the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center.
Makari’s wife Lanni Lantto, continues her ground-breaking leadership as coordinator for the Upper Peninsula’s Wild Church.
Each September Wild Church coordinates a “Blessing of the Monarch Butterfly.” The Upper Peninsula is one of only three routes for the migration of Monarch butterflies from Canada to Mexico.
As the 2024-25 Interfaith Water Stewards draws to a close, the public will soon be invited to an “Evening of Gratitude” for the completion of this two-year effort. It included the planting of 1,000 Northern white cedar trees, sponsoring a series of public forums on challenges facing our region’s drinking water sources, publishing columns in the Marquette Monthly, and providing funds for two community drinking wells, one in Cambodia, the other in Tanzania.
We lift up Bob Kraus and Louise Hanna who these September days have been planting trees with the Nature Conservancy on the Big Island of Hawaii. Thoughtful stewards and members of their faith community, they remain faithful, long-time supporters of Cedar Tree Institute projects and programs.
CHILDREN’S BOOK: A Garden Speaks
A children’s book, designed and illustrated by Diana Magnuson, published this September, will be presented in Marquette’s Peter White Public Library’s Community Room, on October 21st, 6:30 – 8 P.M. The public is invited. The setting is Noriko Mauer’s garden near the shores of Lake Superior on Eagle’s Nest Road in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This unusual project is titled “Garden Sleeping, Garden Growing.”
Noriko arrived here from Japan following WWII. Her garden tells this year-long story, month by month. Norika, now 89 years old, will be present.
We will be honored if you join us!
Book Cover
The Cedar Tree Institute, as a nonprofit organization, carries on its work quietly, thanks to individual donations. We have no full-time employees. One-third of our programming is offered pro-bono to the community. Our appreciation to those of you who continue to help us on our way!
CTI BOARD
- Jon Magnuson, CTI Executive Director
- Steve Mattson, Financial Consultant, Wells Fargo Private Client Services, Retired
- Jim Elder, Attorney
ADVISORY COUNCIL
- Larry Skendzel, Physician, Hospice Care
- Gareth Zellmer, Consultant, Trainer
- Ken Kelley, Professor Emeritus, NMU
- Rick Pietila, U.S. State Department
- Jan Schultz, Botanist, USFS, Retired
- Michael Grossman, Family Physician
RESEARCH ASSOCIATES
- John Rosenberg
- Ruth Almén
- Kent Fish
- Joseph Piccione
For information contact us at 403 East Michigan Street, Marquette, MI 49855 or contact us via email. Telephone & Fax: 906-228-5494
The Fall 2025 Equinox Newsletter is brought to you by Cedar Tree Institute.
