Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Focus on compassion & thankfulness this Thanksgiving week November 26, 2025

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Jesus multiplied two fish into enough to feed 5,000 people. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

“THE SMALL LITTLE LUNCH became more than enough.” That statement, made during the Rev. Bruce Stam’s sermon at Trinity Lutheran Church in Faribault on Sunday morning, really resonates with me in this week of thanksgiving.

Stam was referencing the feeding of the five thousand as recorded in all four gospels and specifically in John 6:1-13. In that story, Jesus and his disciples are faced with a hungry crowd and nothing to feed them. That is until Andrew notices a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish or, as Stam termed it, “a happy meal.” I laughed. I appreciate humor in sermons.

I expect the disciples were not laughing, but rather were highly-skeptical when Jesus suggested that the boy’s meager meal could feed thousands. I would feel that way, too. But Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks and there was enough to feed everyone. With leftovers.

A Thanksgiving week message outside Faribault Church of Christ. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2025)

There are several takeaways from this miracle of feeding 5,000 people. First, God provides. That’s clear and Stam emphasized that point. In my own life, I’ve seen God provide again and again to meet my needs whether physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. I live in a house that is paid for. I have enough to eat. I have loving and supportive family and friends. I’ve had excellent healthcare. The list goes on and on. It’s not that I have the biggest, best or most. But I have enough.

And on that referenced day during biblical times, there was enough bread and fish in a small boy’s lunch to miraculously feed thousands. Jesus, the Rev. Stam said, opened his heart to compassion and fed the hungry.

As I jotted sermon notes, I began to better understand how Jesus taught compassion on that day. He could have ignored the hungry crowd, although that may have been a bit difficult to do given the sheer numbers. Rather, Jesus fed them. His disciples handed out the bread and fish and gathered the leftovers. They were learning an important lesson in compassion as active participants in a compassionate and caring act.

A kindness rock photographed among plants in the Waterville Community Patio. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)

Just like the disciples, we are each capable of compassion, of giving to others. Perhaps we only have a happy meal to share. Or maybe we have an entire Thanksgiving feast to offer. I’m speaking figuratively here. The point is that, as the Rev. Stam said, this world needs compassionate love. And we can give that through monetary and food donations, volunteerism, kindness, anything really that shows care and love for our fellow human beings.

Finally, in the biblical feeding of the five thousand, two other words resonate with me. And those are “gave thanks.” Jesus gave thanks when he took the loaves and fish and then multiplied them. This week “thanks” is the focus, or should be the focus, of our thoughts.

Thank you to the readers who sent these cards to me. Your kindness touched me. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2025)

I am thankful for you, dear readers. I am thankful for everyone who tells me how much they appreciate my writing and photography. I am thankful for my family, especially the birth of my second grandson in January. I am thankful for time spent at a family lake cabin. I am thankful for freedom of speech. I am thankful for a locally strong arts scene. I am thankful for friends, those who are long-time and those I’ve only just met. I am thankful for too many reasons to count…

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! May you always be blessed with “enough” and with a heart of compassion.

TELL ME: What are you especially thankful for this Thanksgiving?

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

My Easter week message to you April 17, 2025

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“Believe” by Mackenzie Miner, a then eighth grader at Faribault Middle School, was exhibited at a past student art show at the Paradise Center for the Arts. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

DURING THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS, I’ve thought a lot about how to craft an Easter message about living my Christian faith against the backdrop of what’s happening in our country today. It’s tough, really tough, to feel positive and joyful. But I must believe that things will get better. Eventually.

Palm branches. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Rather than dwell on the totality of everything negative, I decided to focus on messages I heard during a Palm Sunday worship service at my eldest daughter’s Lakeville church. Randy and I were there for a pancake breakfast fundraiser and then to listen to our grandchildren sing. We—kids and adults alike—sang the traditional processional hymn, “All Glory, Laud and Honor,” as we waved palm branches. It was an uplifting, praise-filled, reverent experience, reminding me of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem among a joyful crowd waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna!” Jesus rode in on a donkey, symbolic of his humility and humanity. Days later, the people would turn on Jesus and he would die an agonizing death upon a cross.

A stained glass window inside Holden Lutheran Church, rural Kenyon, Minnesota, depicts Jesus’ crucifixion. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

That journey to the cross, followed by the resurrection of Jesus on Easter morning, started on Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week and a time of reflection. The service at St. John’s started with a blessing of the palms. That blessing set the tone for worship, at least for me. The palm branches we held represented celebration, justice and comfort. These are the words that most resonated with me: Bless these protest palms, O God of Justice…may they make us bold and brave to stand up against injustice.

The unsheltered, photographed in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, in June 2018 near the state capitol. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

So, as I stood at the back of the church, I waved my palm frond high like a protest sign, thoughts of injustices racing through my mind. I’ve done some protesting lately with my words. I felt encouraged and empowered to stand bold and brave against injustices. Jesus did. He called people out. He got mad. He chastised. He advocated for and helped those who suffered the most. The outcasts. The lonely. The poor and hungry. He showed compassion and love. He provided. He forgave.

A portion of a quote by John Lewis posted in the window of a Dundas, MN., home. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Remember the once popular WWJD/What Would Jesus Do slogan? I think Jesus would be more than a little ticked off about the injustices today, how people are treating one another, how those in positions of leadership are abusing their power. Jesus did, after all, overturn the tables in the temple when it became a noisy marketplace for greedy vendors focused on making money rather than allowing people easy access inside for spiritual reasons.

Posted on the exterior of the Congregational Church of Faribault United Church of Christ. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

I’d like to think that Jesus wants every single one of us to be bold and brave in our words and actions. It’s easy enough to sit quietly and do nothing. Just pretend all is well with everyone when, in reality, it’s not. People are struggling. In relationships. With unexpected and unnecessary job loss. Financially. Mentally. In ways I would never have thought possible in this country—suppression, oppression, ongoing discrimination, intimidation, imprisonment… Injustices run rampant.

A loving message posted along a bike trail in Madison, WI. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

We each have the power to do something about those injustices. Volunteer. Encourage. Donate money to charitable organizations or to individuals in and outside your circle who may need a little extra help right now. Smile. Be respectful. Extend small acts of kindness. Simply be a kind, decent, compassionate and loving person.

A message on a tombstone at Valley Grove Cemetery, rural Nerstrand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

But also don’t hesitate to be bold and brave to stand up against injustice, to wave your protest palm branch high, then higher still.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Saving plastic Jesus December 21, 2023

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Vintage Holy Family. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo December 2023)

AS A WOMAN OF FAITH, the true meaning of Christmas rests for me in the birth of Jesus. Certainly, I appreciate and celebrate the secular aspects, too. But, above all, my focus centers on the Christ Child born in Bethlehem.

In early December, I joined a group of volunteers who were decorating my church, Trinity Lutheran in Faribault, for Advent. This was my first year participating as I don’t particularly enjoy putting up decorations. But I decided I could at least follow directions and do whatever I was told.

Turns out I rather enjoyed several hours of working with my faith family to hang greens and other festive decorations. My only stipulation—I wouldn’t climb a ladder.

When the guys climbed a ladder, pulling a vintage plastic Nativity set from a storage space, my new friend Nancy told me she’d been tasked with disposing of the scene (she planned to donate it to a downtown secondhand shop). I protested. Loudly. I wanted the Holy Family to stay at Trinity. And displayed.

I scanned the narthex for a spot, my eyes landing on a corner bookshelf. Perfect. I ran my idea past Leann, who was all in. She rolled the bookshelf to another space. And then several of us unboxed the trio of mother, father and child, actually two children. Another Nancy and I chose the darker-skinned baby with hands that appeared more life-like than the other plastic Jesus. And then Nancy tossed the rejected baby back in the box. Tossed. I protested loudly. In fun, of course. She picked up the second Jesus and laid him gently in the box.

Then I stepped into the cool December Saturday morning to shake dirt from the plain brown swatch of fabric found with the baby. Perfect, we all thought. Just like back in Bethlehem days—a basic, simple wrap to warm the new baby born in a barn.

The scene, though, was still missing something. A star, suggested Leann, who promised to bring one from home. Perfect.

Sunday morning I arrived for worship services to see the scene completed with a glowing star set upon a table and “The Christmas Story” children’s picture books artfully displayed on a round table for kids to borrow. The table represented the stable in Bethlehem. Marilyn’s idea. It worked.

Baby Jesus, though, was no longer wrapped in the basic brown cloth. Rather, he was snugged in a green and white quilt of stripes and circles stitched and tied by the Trinity Quilt Makers. Not exactly period authentic, but it would have to do. I was not in charge of decorating.

After church services, as I visited with friends, I observed a preschooler walk up to the Nativity set and take in the scene before him. My heart, my spirit, my soul filled with joy. This was exactly why I wanted Mary, Joseph and the Christ Child to remain at Trinity. I knew kids would be drawn to the corner scene of lighted figurines, to view the plastic Jesus so carefully laid in the manger under the watchful eyes of his loving parents.

© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Good Friday focus on suffering & compassion April 7, 2023

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A crown of thorns (similar to that worn by Jesus on the cross) used in a Stations of the Cross event at my church in 2019. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo April 2019)

ON THIS GOOD FRIDAY, the day Christ was crucified, I contemplated what I would write. I had two topics in mind—suffering and compassion. Then I realized I needn’t choose one. I could focus on both.

Christ died a cruel and agonizing death. There is no denying that. Yet, even in his betrayal, his pain, his intense suffering, he showed compassion to the end. And beyond the end. We can learn a lot from Jesus.

We all experience suffering in life. That’s a given in our humanity. Right now I have friends going through some really rough stuff within their immediate and extended families. A one-year-old on life support. A nephew dead in a tragic car accident. Another battling advanced cancer. Ongoing and new health issues. It can feel like a lot. And to think otherwise would be to deny the challenges facing people about whom I care deeply. There are days when I feel overwhelmed by all the suffering in this world and beyond. Enough already, I want to scream.

Reaching out with care and compassion. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

But then I recognize that I can either be dragged down by it or I can do as Christ did—show compassion. I can be that person who listens. I can be that person who offers encouraging words. I can be that person who mails an uplifting greeting card with a personal note. I can be that person who connects and shows care in tangible ways and sets aside my anguish to focus on those at the center of challenges.

This is not the time to pull out my own stories and compare, thus putting the focus on me. This is not the time for me to tell anyone how to think, feel or act. This is not the time to offer advice. This is the time to simply be there. To listen. To hug. To pray, but to take my compassion beyond thoughts and prayers.

We can all work on improving our listening skills. Not just hear, but listen. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

I am a major advocate of listening. It is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give to someone who is grieving, in crisis, in the throes of health or other challenges. Listening doesn’t seem to come easily for most people. It takes a conscious, focused effort. But at its core, listening is easy. It requires keeping one’s mouth closed, for starters. And then it necessitates concentrating, taking in every word, every nuance, body language and detail.

By nature, I am a quiet observer. I don’t need to be, want to be, the loudest person in the room pushing my ideas or opinions or recommendations. I know too many individuals who fit that self-centered persona. They exhaust me and, yes, sometimes even anger me. Quiet compassion and listening center me.

An important message painted onto a fence in a downtown Faribault pocket garden. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Today, as I reflect on the life and death of Christ, I see someone who showed great compassion throughout his time on earth. He witnessed and understood suffering. He experienced emotions. He felt pain. Yes, I can learn a lot from Jesus. About loving. About listening. About showing compassion, even in suffering.

TELL ME: How do you show compassion to those who are facing challenges?

© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The art of Holy Week in southern Minnesota April 3, 2023

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A stained glass window inside Holden Lutheran Church, rural Kenyon, depicts Jesus’ crucifixion. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2016)

CHRISTIAN FAITH COMMUNITIES have long integrated art into their houses of worship. Whether in stained glass windows, sculptures, paintings or other art forms, this art is an important way to visually connect worshipers with Scripture, with foundational teachings.

The historic Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary Church in Shieldsville Township, rural Rice County, sits isolated along a gravel road, edged by the Trebon Cemetery. The Czech church closed long ago and is locked. But I’ve wandered the cemetery grounds and found unusual art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo October 2022)

This week, Holy Week, I consider the art of churches I’ve visited in my area of southern Minnesota. Aged sanctuaries graced with connective and inspiring art. I never tire of stepping inside a rural church or meandering through a country cemetery to view faith-focused art. It’s beautiful in its own way, often in the visual storytelling of events documented in the Bible.

Folk art in the Trebon Cemetery honors the crucified Christ and the deceased. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo April 2014)

As a woman of faith, the days leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion and subsequent resurrection on Easter morning make this week particularly meaningful.

This artistic rendition of The Last Supper hangs in the St. John’s United Church of Christ, Wheeling Township, rural Faribault, Fellowship Hall. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo April 2012)

From Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane to The Last Supper to his betrayal by Judas and then his crucifixion and resurrection, the events of Christ’s final days unfold in art inside sanctuaries and on cemetery grounds.

Inside Vang Lutheran Church, rural Dennison, a stained glass window shows Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2014)

I feel a certain reverence for the artists who designed and crafted stained glass windows that rise high inside sanctuaries, sunlight streaming through colorful glass. It’s almost as if the beauty therein beams directly from heaven, filling dark souls with light.

In the face of Mary, I see profound grief in losing her son. This statue is inside St. Mary’s Catholic Church, New Trier. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Likewise, statues, most often found in Catholic churches, add a down-to-earth human element in their life-sized presence. I have the urge to reach out, to touch a hand or a face, to offer comfort, to extend compassion. Art, especially faith-based art, holds that power.

Centering the altar is this depiction of Jesus’ crucifixion inside St. Mary’s Catholic Church, New Trier. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Whether centering an altar or hanging on a church fellowship hall wall, biblically-based artwork is an important part of Christianity. I appreciate the ornate and the simplistic. The oversized and the understated. The all of it, uplifting, inspiring, moving me.

This shows the resurrected Christ in a snippet of the center stained glass window in a trio above the altar at Trinity Lutheran Church, Wanamingo. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo March 2016)

During this Holy Week, I reflect on the art gracing churches throughout my region. Art that truly is a spiritual treasure. Art that carries a heritage of faith.

© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The reason I celebrate Christmas & wishes for you December 25, 2022

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A favorite Nativity Christmas ornament on my tree. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo December 2022)

AS A WOMAN OF FAITH, I center my Christmas celebration on the birth of Christ. I focus on the baby boy born to a young couple in Bethlehem. Seemingly ordinary, yet extraordinary.

To visually remind myself of Jesus’ birth, I display Nativity scenes in my home. This year I kept most boxed away, leaning into minimalism to make a stronger impact. The same goes for ornaments gracing my skinny, unbalanced Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Among those tree decorations is a Nativity tucked into an over-sized pinecone. Just Mary, Joseph and their swaddled newborn son with shining star above.

My sister-in-law Joanne, before she married my youngest brother, gifted me with this Christmas ornament decades ago. It remains a favorite.

On this Christmas Day, with that Nativity and a 60-year-old paper baby Jesus cut-out from a long ago Sunday School class nestled into the boughs of my short-needled evergreen, I am reminded of the reason I celebrate Christmas. Christ the Savior is born!

Wishing you a joyous Christmas from southern Minnesota!

© Copyright 2022 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Faith art focus during Holy Week April 14, 2022

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The birth of Christ depicted at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Buckman, Minnesota. This is my husband’s home church. (Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo September 2020)

STAINED GLASS ART graces many a church. Most often that art depicts the history of Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection.

This stained glass window inside the Mother of Good Counsel Votive Chapel at The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, Wisconsin, depicts Mary and Jesus. I often think of Mary during Holy Week and how great her loss in losing her son. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2015)

So it’s fitting that this week, Holy Week, I share some images from my archives of beautiful stained glass windows discovered in my wanderings. As a woman of faith, an art appreciator and one who values churches, I am drawn to this art form.

Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. Stained glass window in the sanctuary of Vang Lutheran Church, rural Dennison, Minnesota. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2014)

My husband, Randy, has dabbled in stained glass art and I know from watching him that creating this art takes time, patience, skill and dedication. He took a stained glass class locally decades ago, has crafted several sun catchers and also repaired aged windows at our church, Trinity Lutheran in Faribault. I hope that when he retires, he can more fully embrace this art form.

Jesus carries his cross to Golgotha. Stained glass at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Buckman. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo September 2020)

That sidebar aside, I feel such gratitude to those long ago craftsmen who labored to create stained glass windows for churches. Such windows enhance worship, infusing a sanctuary with beauty and a visual telling of biblical stories. Like the birth of Jesus. The agony of his suffering, death and glorious resurrection.

A stained glass window inside Holden Lutheran Church, rural Kenyon, Minnesota, depicts Jesus’ crucifixion. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2016)

Like illustrations in a book, the art of stained glass adds to the words, opens our eyes to better see that which we hear and read.

This stained glass window of the women and angel at Jesus’ empty tomb rises above the altar at Holden Lutheran Church, rural Kenyon, Minnesota. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2016)

Art adds a depth to my understanding and to my faith.

This shows a snippet of the center stained glass window in a trio above the altar at Trinity Lutheran Church, Wanamingo, Minnesota. This section shows Jesus risen from the dead. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2016)

As we near the end of Holy Week, please take time to reflect on the stained glass art here or within your own community.

A photo of Christ’s face from a stained glass window in my church, Trinity Lutheran, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2012)

And may this art bless you as it has me. Have a joyful and blessed Easter!

© Copyright 2022 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A Christmas message from Minnesota Prairie Roots December 24, 2021

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Baby Jesus stitched by my cousin Traci Sanford. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo)

SIX COUNTED CROSS-STITCH CARDS depicting the birth of Christ grace an aged chest of drawers anchoring a corner of my living room. I’ve leaned the cards against the backdrop mirror reflecting my Christmas tree.

These works of art visually tell the Christmas story minus a few important characters—Joseph and the Three Wisemen, who would later come bearing gifts. Perhaps those cards were lost. Or maybe my cousin Traci, who stitched the art, didn’t complete the series. She gifted my mom with these cards. One each Christmas.

A few years back, after Mom moved into assisted living and eventually long-term care, my extended family divided the Nativity sets our mother collected. And, among those I chose were these cards. My mom was also an avid counted cross stitch artist.

I cherish the stitched collection. Not only for its artistic value but also for the emotional connection to a mother celebrating her final Christmas on this earth. That is reality and I’ve reached a sense of peace in that certainty.

This Christmas, I hope you, too, experience peace. I hope you find a connection to those loved ones no longer on this earth via treasured memories or objects. I hope you feel connected also to those still here. To those who can still hear the words, “I love you.”

Have a blessed Christmas, dear readers!

© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Hope. Peace. Joy. Love. December 21, 2021

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After the Community Christmas Dinner. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo December 2012)

IN THE DAYS LEADING to Christmas, busyness can cause us to lose focus. Busy baking. Busy cleaning. Busy buying. Busy wrapping and trying to do too much. I invite you to pause and reflect.

Reflect on hope.

Reflect on peace.

Reflect on joy.

Reflect on love.

Those four words centered a bulletin board display I photographed in 2012 at Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church. I love this image. For the message. And for the story behind it. The Faribault church annually (except during COVID) hosts a free Community Christmas Dinner in mid-December. Volunteers serve a full holiday meal in the church basement. I’ve attended many times and enjoyed not only the food, but also the coming together of my community.

In this particular photo, a woman awaits a ride home. I’d just finished my meal and came across her standing at the top of the stairs, poinsettia in hand. The holiday flowers decorated dinner tables and diners were welcome to take them home. She was unaware of my presence. I framed the moment. A moment that, against the backdrop Advent message, captures the reason for the season.

Hope. Peace. Joy. Love. May all be yours as we draw near to Christmas.

© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Easter hope April 2, 2021

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A sculpture inside St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Buckman, MN. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo September 2020.

AS HOLY WEEK MOVES ever closer to Easter Sunday, I find myself focusing on hope. It’s such a positive word. One that I’ve held close to my heart through some really difficult challenges in life.

This past pandemic year has challenged all of us. Stretched our endurance, our patience, our ability to cope. To live life in a way that would keep us, and those we love, safe. I’ve felt frustrated about lax attitudes and behaviors regarding COVID-19. But through all of this, I’ve tried to balance that with hope.

Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo May 2020.

Hope seems synonymous with spring in Minnesota. Nature reveals hope in spring bulbs popping, in trees budding, in dormant grass greening and much more.

After a season of cold and darkness, hope breaks forth in longer days. More warmth. More sunshine. More light.

And now, in this too long season of COVID, hope for an end to this pandemic.

A photo of Christ’s face from a stained glass window in my church, Trinity Lutheran, Faribault. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2012.

As a woman of faith, I also view this time of year through the lens of eternal hope. I see the face of Jesus. Determined. Caring. Suffering. Dying. And then living, breathing. Alive. Darkness replaced by light on Easter morning. The light of eternal life.

This Easter Sunday, just like last, I’ll miss celebrating Easter in person with my faith family. I’ll miss the feeling that comes with worshiping inside a church with other Christians. I’ll miss the scent of lilies and the reverberation of the organ. I’ll miss the blessings of being among friends, of joyful Easter greetings.

Yet, I can still view the Easter service online or listen on the radio. I can experience worship indirectly. I can praise God and pray and let the joyful music of Easter fill my ears. And my mind. Hope remains. I know that my Redeemer lives! What comfort this sweet sentence gives!

Inspirational and honoring words are embedded in the mosaic tile on a memorial for Barb Larson (murdered in an act of domestic violence) in Faribault. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

TO YOU, MY DEAR READERS, I wish you a most blessed, joyful and hope-filled Easter!

© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Quoted lyrics are from the hymn, I Know that My Redeemer Lives.