Wilderness

The internet can seem like a wilderness of lost and misplaced information then you come across something that stirs something in you and you just have to share.

Below are two excerpts from a National Geographic article by Simon Worrall that stood out to me in my continual quest for higher understanding.

How Backpacking Can Put You in Touch With Your Inner Saint

"One of your sources of inspiration is the "wilderness spirituality" of the early Desert Christians. Who were these people?

"They were a fascinating group of men and women. They lived in the fourth century A.D., when Constantine had made Christianity not only legal but also the most powerful religion in the Roman Empire. A lot of Christians started to do well and become very wealthy. As a result, they lost their original vitality. So the Desert Christians went into the desert of Egypt, southern Palestine, and Syria to live a simpler life and practice the teachings of Jesus with a greater authenticity. I use the wilderness spirituality of the Desert Fathers as a pattern for the various narratives that I weave in the book.""

"You came from a strict Christian upbringing. Talk a bit about your early life and its connection to wilderness backpacking.

"I was raised in a fundamentalist background in the South. We sang gospel songs. This world is not my home/I'm just a passing through/My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. We were taught not to think much of this world, because the next world was the one that mattered. But I also grew up near the swampland and pine forests of central Florida. And that's where I got my real religious education and my love of wilderness.""

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I might be just a passing through yet I should take a greater interest in the treasures that are currently laid out before me.

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