Musings
Work song, part 2: a vision
Tree at Crossing Hedgerows Sanctuary – photo by Brennah Cavanaugh
Work song, part 2: a vision
If we will have the wisdom to survive,
To stand like slow-growing trees
On a ruined place, renewing, enriching it,
If we will make our seasons welcome here,
Asking not too much of earth or heaven,
then a long time after we are dead
The lives our lives prepare will live
Here, their houses strongly placed
Upon the valley sides, fields and gardens
Rich in the windows. The river will run
Clear, as we will never know it,
And over it, birdsong like a canopy.
On the levels of the hills will be
Green meadows, stock bells in noon shade.
On the steeps where greed and ignorance cut down
The old forest, an old forest will stand,
Its rich leaf-fall drifting on its roots.
The veins of forgotten springs will have opened.
Families will be singing in the fields.
In their voices they will hear a music
Risen out of the ground. They will take
Nothing from the ground they will not return,
Whatever the grief at parting. Memory,
Native to this valley, will spread over it
Like a grove, and memory will grow
into legend, legend into song, song
into sacrament. The abundance of this place,
the songs of its people and its birds,
will be health and wisdom and indwelling
light. This is no paradisal dream.
Its hardship is its possibility.
Wendell Berry
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Written by : Jean Cavanaugh
Jean Cavanaugh is the founder and steward of Crossing Hedgerows Sanctuary, established in 2019 as a living, learning community devoted to reconnecting people with the wisdom of nature, the sacred order of creation, and the presence of Christ within all life. Her work brings together spiritual formation, ecological stewardship, ancestral wisdom, and hands-on community practice.
Through years of practical work on the land, study of the Mysteries, and the healing of her own severe health challenges through natural methods, Jean has come to recognize God’s hand at work throughout creation. Her teachings, rooted in the Mystery School tradition and Christian gnosis, explore how the patterns of heaven, earth, and the human body reveal the way back to divine presence, peace, and inner strength.
Jean leads with honesty, integrity, and a deeply welcoming spirit, inviting others to let go of inherited assumptions and rediscover truth through lived experience and embodied understanding. She works with all ages—from preschoolers to elders—offering programs and celebrations that emphasize direct engagement with nature, music, story, homesteading skills, and in-person community.
She and her family live at the 21-acre Crossing Hedgerows Sanctuary, where daily life reflects a commitment to simplicity, beauty, and harmony with the land. The sanctuary includes gardens, woodland trails, a seasonal creek, gathering circles, and spaces designed to nourish both people and wildlife. Jean is especially passionate about creating environments that are grounding, beautiful, and spiritually restorative.
Through her writing and teaching, Jean encourages others to know themselves, know creation, and recognize Christ as the living truth present within and around us—always inviting a return to love, beauty, and the sacred order of life.
