Most Honored Greening Force: Contemplative Ecology and the Living World

We can begin to experience nature as a doorway to the sacred, a way to find stillness, silence, and timeless mystery.

“original participation” and many ancient peoples seemed to have lived in daily connection with the soulful level of everything—trees, air, the elements, animals, the earth itself, along with the sun, moon, and stars. These were all “brother” and sister” just as St. Francis would later name them.

ore, a forest as a sacred grove rather than lumber and pulp, other species as our biological kin rather than resources, the planet as our mother and life-giver and not an opportunity, then our actions will reflect far greater humility, respect and responsibility.

In my own personal spiritual geography, it is one of a handful of high holy places, not only because of its geographical sense of sanctuary, but also because Steven Purcell and his team know how to make room for a spiritual encounter without having to “manage” it. The rhythms of the place reflect deep intentionality but also a deeper trust that eff

The traditional or tribal shaman, I came to discern, acts as an intermediary between the human community and the larger ecological field, ensuring that there is an appropriate flow of nourishment, not just from the landscape to the human inhabitants, but from the human community back to the local earth. By his constant rituals, trances, ecstasies,