While the internet and social media have given people more ways to connect and interact, people in the United States and around the world are experiencing more isolation and loneliness than ever before, according to the Rev. Barbara Thorngren.

“That’s like an oxymoron, isn’t it? It’s because we’re not physically connecting [anymore] – at the heart level.” she said. “We’re not experiencing what it is to be together.”

It’s issues like this that Thorngren is addressing in the programs and services she offers through her Temple-based business PeaceWorks NH, which she runs out of her seven-acre homestead that’s home to goats, ducks, chickens and Thorngren’s faithful canine companion Skylar.

On Saturday, April 27, she will be hosting a program called “Flags of One Family on Earth” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. During the program, Cambridge, Mass.-based artist Linda DeHart will teach attendees to create flags that represent humanity as a whole, instead of the traditional geopolitical regions. The program will also discuss the ability to work together for the greater good. Flags will be displayed during an evening ceremony, and guests can take one of their flags home with them. Additional flags will be added to DeHart’s growing collection of flags made by people from around the world.

“That’s what we try to do here,” Thorngren said. “Bring in this idea of one humanity, one Earth, being respectful and working towards peace. It’s a huge, monumental task, but if we don’t, what is our purpose? We really have no other options.”

Thorngren developed and taught in Nashua Community College’s peace and social justice studies program, during which she led three study-abroad courses to the University for Peace in Costa Rica. 

Aside from her college teaching, Thorngren has taught at The Well School in Peterborough. She volunteers as the facilities coordinator for the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men, and is trained in group facilitation based around the Circle Process, a method of team-building involving the act of sitting in a circle. Additionally, Thorngren has worked as a nurse, a volunteer firefighter and EMT, and is a certified reiki master.

Thorngren uses her background to inform every service she offers at PeaceWorks. According to Thorngren, spiritual guidance is at the heart of everything she does – from reiki to art workshops to a back-and-forth conversation.

“People don’t have to come [to me] for any particular reason other than wanting some support,” she said. “I light a candle and I listen, I let people talk. I’m not a relative. I’m not a friend. I’m not an employer – I can just be with them as they share. I think those are the spaces that we lose because our communities aren’t as communal as they used to be.”

Thorngren hopes one of her new programs, which she calls “Peace Sundays,” will help to address this issue by bringing people together in a common space – in this case, Temple’s town hall. She has invited members of the public to join in this social event, where attendees will be able to make connections, learn about different traditions and come together to celebrate and understand each other’s differences. 

Thorngren also has several other events coming up, which will be held at her Healing Arts Barn Studio and Sanctuary on her Temple homestead. Events include a a monthly workshop series called “Gardening and Landscaping in Harmony with Nature,” which Thorngren will be running with her friend and neighbor Cathy Joly. The series will run through November.

For information on PeaceWorks NH and its upcoming programs, visit facebook.com/avalonsanctuary.