About Tierra Spiritual Care
Thoughts From Our Founder, Melissa Tucker
Many years ago, I was given a really dry succulent. Expecting little, I jammed it into a pot and crossed my fingers. Then one morning, years later, I stepped outside to find THIS — a tall, hot pink stalk sprouted overnight. It stopped me in my tracks.
After a real research rabbit hole, I gained a near-PhD in plant dormancy. I learned that cacti and succulents hold back their energy for blooms until they’re thriving. A succulent can go for decades without sending its flourish into the world. But with sufficient water, sun, soil, rootedness, stability - and without much warning - its color pops and it can afford to flower.
I was absolutely taken with this concept. It is not at all unlike the process we go through after receiving proper care and finding ourselves finally nourished and free enough to bloom.
You may find yourself facing a spiritual reckoning of some kind. Perhaps a religious space that once felt like home betrayed you. Maybe an ideology that once brought you peace now is confusing or unrecognizable. Or you might not have a spiritual community or guide or no longer connect with or trust the ones you do have.
When trust is broken by unsafe practices or dogmas, it can feel foolish to try again. Revisiting places of pain and disappointment is hard work that you may not have energy for. But if you sense you’re at the intersection of readiness and right timing, then maybe it’s time to bring in some support.
As a minister, teacher, and hospice chaplain, I have encountered so many people with spiritual wounds that have a direct effect on their mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Like with any wound — time, care, and a safe guide can help the healing process.
I encountered this intersection often in my work with hospice patients. Regularly, the religious patients with a faith community declined my visits. This surprised me at first - I expected the opposite. Over time though, I realized that the people most eager for spiritual care services were those with some baggage they had yet to deal with. Some would whisper, looking over their shoulder, a doubt about a piece of doctrine. Others would unload a secret carried for a lifetime. Many would process how their religious community left them behind. Far too many queer people and people of color went decades unable to speak of the judgment, discrimination, and shame they experienced.
I don’t want people to wait until the end of their lives to find relief and understanding. And that’s why I started Tierra.
Our team of spiritual care providers will accompany you as we review your stories and unpack your big questions.
We take the things you’ve experienced seriously. And we believe that movement through resulting wounds and questions is possible.
Just like how we refer folks to therapists or grief specialists when appropriate, we are here for a level of spiritual fine-tuning, theological framework, and understanding of the religious landscape that other professionals may not be prepared to address.
Whether meeting in one-on-one sessions, as a couple preparing for marriage or other significant life events, or in a group setting, we commit full presence to you, without an attachment to outcomes.
We are here for you to find the flow and pathway right for you.
Through the power of authenticity, solidarity, connection, and creativity, we’ll care for you and keep watch with you. We just may find some surprise desert blooms.
WHY “TIERRA”?
In Spanish, “tierra” represents all these things: land, earth, ground, soil, world, dust.
This multi-faceted term perfectly embodies the terrain of the spiritual life, which can feel as rich and invigorating as soil…or as dry and futile as dust.
We’re prepared to map out the terrain of your life with you and get you to that tierra you’ve been hoping to find.
