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| "Little Chapel By-the-Sea" (2016) |
"An Altar in the Wilderness"
"Father Kaleeg Hainsworth, an Eastern Orthodox priest with a lifetime of experience in the Canadian wilderness, grounds this manifesto in the literary, philosophical, mystical and historical teachings of the spiritual masters of both East and West, outlining the human experience of the sacred in nature.
The spiritual ecology described here is fully engaged with the wilderness beyond our backyards; it is an ecology which takes in nature as “red in tooth and claw” and offers a way forward in the face of accelerating climate change. This manifesto also challenges our modern self-conception as dominators or stewards of the natural world, claiming these roles emerged from western industrial history and are directly responsible for the environmental damage and alienation from nature we know today. The ecological scope of this book begins with a meditation on natural beauty as the divine that breathes through all aspects of life. We discover along the way that awe and mystery are so vital to the human experience of the natural world that without them we are doomed to treat nature as little more than a resource, a science or a playground for recreation alone. Instead, a new role emerges from these pages, one which accounts for the sacred in nature and places us in relationship to the world of which we are inextricably a part. This role is a priestly one, and Father Hainsworth outlines the significance and benefits of it in detail while also offering a vision of life in which a human being stands in the world of nature as at an altar built in the wilderness, a sacred offering in a holy place."
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This little book also introduced me to early conservationist, John Muir's letters, and to his strong faith in God, the Creator of all things. He practiced a type of spiritual ecology that cannot be found by those who only worship the creation -- but not the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth: https://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/life/life_and_letters/default.aspx
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When we focus on God, we do not become anxious or fearful, like those who do not believe in God, especially with all the futile "Climate Change Protests" of late. Those poor, wayward people, sway in the winds of their unstable times, and are easily led by hungry wolves in their midst:
I am a Christian Artist who thrives to focus on:
"...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.…" (Philippians 4:8)
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For others like myself, this is a good starting point to begin to thrive as a Christian Artist, in prayer:
The world blooms in full living colour, especially with Faith and a solid Spiritual Ecology that can only happen with God in the picture! What artist would not want to reach for that painters' brush?
