Information
Program & Event Reports
Christ in the Wilderness
Reports:
Mount Rainier WA, May 2005 >
Yosemite National Park CA, August 2005 >
Sharon MA, November 2005 >
Long Island NY, May 2007 >
Comments:
Fr. James Robinson >
D. Stephani Colby >
Fr. Athanasius Shaw >
Fr. James Robinson
In regards to our “Christ in the Wilderness” program ... here are some reflections.
First a note from Saint Paul Florensky’s autobiographical notes, in Salt of the Earth.
Paul was not raised in a religious atmosphere and was never taken to church. His first spiritual yearnings, therefore were not the result of outside influences, but of an internal awakening to a higher reality. Through an experience of nature Paul began to feel awe before the unfathomable wisdom of God, the intrinsic Goodness of creation and the vastness of eternity.
I am not sure if it was just the rarefied air (ethereal vapors) of the High Sierras, or an authentic spiritual experience, or maybe some of both, but I felt the presence of God in our daily meditations and hikes as I have not experienced since I was a youth. I kept thinking of an old hymn we used to sing “For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies. Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.”
This whole idea of recovering the patristic understanding of creation should be at the root of an integral world view considering that God chose the dust of the earth to make us from. The challenge we faced to recover this understanding cannot be accomplished in the week we had in the mountains, but it opened my eyes to the wonderful possibilities for anyone who is willing to be touched by God, to enter into an other-worldly experience and there find new faith, or a renewal of faith, in a loving Creator who has put visibly his nature in this temple of creation.
As this was a first-time event, we have a lot more to learn, but the lessons were priceless, and I pray that God will bless us to do this and share this with as many people as possible.
D. Stephani Colby
Thank you for the revelatory “Christ in the Wilderness” weekend. It may have been only a small taste, as you said, but it was a potent and inspiring one. ...
Thank you for pioneering and dedicating yourself to this vital and much-needed ministry. Although it can be difficult for Americans raised in a materialist and secular culture with its emphases on either a sentimental or brutally utilitarian approach to nature to penetrate through the anesthetizing fog of our conditioning to a true and living relationship to our Lord and His creation, I believe that this is one of the most important of all Christian works, especially in our own confused times where our lack of realization and abandonment of the living tradition, as expressed by the Fathers, has left this area open to pagan speculation and worse. And, as environmental conditions steadily worsen, it becomes even more critical that we be able to hear Christ’s voice and direction speaking to us through His creation. I know that serious questions of discernment arise for the Orthodox Christian in this exploration and I am eager to learn more about approaching this in the context of the virtues and humble Christian discipleship – areas which our regrettably short period of time together did not allow us to cover in any depth.
Also, in my recent experience as an apprentice to two clinical herbalists, I have been both overjoyed by what I have been learning of God’s providence as expressed in the marvelous plants and saddened by the misunderstandings that they have of the role of Christianity in relation to the environment. The people with whom I work have little reason to have other than a negative impression as we Christians have been largely absent in this critically important area. Although my colleagues have listened with respect and even interest to my barely adequate attempts to present a relevant Christian paradigm, I thing that programs such as “Christ in the Wilderness” can be powerful instruments for awakening Christians to a right relationship to God in His creation and in bringing non-Christians into the “good news” in a most tangible and accessible way.
Thanks so much, Fred. Our time in nature meant so much to me. I wish you and the work you are doing well. I’m looking forward to our continuing communication and I hope that we will be able to work out at least one or two more extensive programs for you in the Northeast during 2006. Please let me know how I can help. You and these fine programs are in my prayers. ...
May God grant you His inspiration, protection and all necessary support and resources needed to revive this critical aspect of our Christian tradition and daily lives.
Fr. Athanasius Shaw
My evaluation of the wilderness trip is thus: It was good, helpful, and useful. The format was simple and effective.
It was very helpful for me personally to have my experience of love for the wilderness broken down into simple qualities of creation that I could think about and relate to God. My trips into the wilderness have always been satisfying and enriching experiences for my heart and soul, but not fully, not for my mind. So, though I was saturated with the experience of beauty, thankfulness, love from and for God, and peace and quiet (solitude/silence), the way of deepening my experience was not in my hands. Thus, I would go back to everyday life in the city and the experience would eventually fade away. All during the following year I would await for my next trip into the wilderness with great longing. Now, by this simple “Book of Nature’ presentation, I have been helped to deepen my understanding of the experience of God and His creation and retain the deeper meaning, even back here in this busy, noisy world.
Experience is the key; however, it is also helpful to understand that experience. My emotions get cleansed in the wilderness after a few days, but our life isn’t based on emotional experiences. We are striving to have communion with God in all our faculties. The Church offers this experience. But I have heard very little about nor have I connected the dots myself between the great outdoors and my spiritual life.
These have been separate experiences from the rest of my Orthodox spiritual life, because I had never taken the time or made the effort to explore the ‘book of nature’. What the Fathers have to say about the “book of nature’ is really startling to me. Some of the greatest Fathers give rich food for thought. An important connection was made for me between the Church and God’s creation. The earth and its beauty do indeed reveal qualities of God that are meant to bring us into communion with Him. My love for the wilderness can be an aid to spiritual life, prompted by the spiritual knowledge of the Fathers. These Fathers certainly did not consider their love for nature, the wilderness, whatever we might call it, as an isolated experience from the rest of their Orthodox life.
By ‘breaking down’ the total experience into these ‘keys’, I see that this can be an aid in focusing on traditional spiritual strivings in our everyday life. In other words, these qualities, or keys, that we thought about and attempted to get a feeling for, a little mini experience, in the Sierras, are helpful in giving us direction, where to direct our focus, when we come back into everyday working life. They are transcendent qualities, because they come from God. The ‘book of nature’ offers a God-blessed way to ‘discover’ these spiritual keys.
Some random ideas: As we talked on the trip, I think that this sort of program could be a way for families, particularly fathers (mothers) and sons, (daughters) to have a meaningful experience together. One of the unspoken yet most powerful experiences of the ten days was the sharing. Both Hannah and I miss everyone. We worked together, stood through a hail storm together, helped each other, shared in the spiritual contemplations together. It was a community experience. So often, fathers (and mothers) and sons, (and daughters), will go into the outdoors and twittle away their time, gaining nothing. I’d like to work with you on this idea.
Offered the format and setting to have an immediate experience of basic Christian qualities that are the basic foundation of the higher virtues.
Experience was the main thing. Though small and rudimentary, these rudimentary ‘spiritual’ exercises brought in the whole idea of participating in God’s grace into an accessible framework.
For the younger participants, like my 13 year old daughter, a valuable seed of spiritual practice was planted.
For others, older, like me, it made a connection that there is a ‘how to’ in our every day Orthodox way of life. The quotes from the Fathers are startling; much continuing food for thought was present in the content and format of the wilderness program.
