The colonizers of America saw the wilderness primarily as a storehouse of “natural resources” out of which to make products, a living, and perhaps even a fortune.  Lumber barons in great number accomplished the latter.  Our town of Grand Rapids and many other Midwestern cities are still graced with their opulent and elegant homes—some of which demonstrate masterful woodworking skills that are now mostly lost or considered too costly to “bother with.”

There was little understanding then about the other values of wilderness—and certainly no grasp of the fact that such “resources” could be depleted.  Our forebears lived as though there were no limits.  One result is highlighted in my last post about the redwoods, those long-lived and awe-inspiring giants of the forest that were seen as resources for the benefit of mankind alone until they were diminished to only four percent of the former range.  Those left are finally treasured by most of us, but are still threatened by those who see in them only an opportunity for their own financial gain.

Certainly the wilderness has provided us with wonderful natural resources. But we seem so slow to learn that it is so much more than a place of economic opportunity. When we look at an Appalachian mountain as mostly a mound of coal or a hill of timber for us to use for our own purposes, we may be failing to see it comprehensively. A second look can help us to see the same mountain as a watershed, a climate regulator, a source of clean air, a shield against flooding, a habitat for wild creatures, a thing of beauty, a place of peace and solitude, and a location for recreation. And we are not seeing it as God sees it—in all its glory with all its purposes.

It’s part of our God-given trust of the earth to have a comprehensive and biblical vision when looking at the wilderness. Followers of Christ have so many reasons to value the wilderness. Because we see the natural world as entrusted to us by an infinitely wise Creator, it’s not difficult to see the wilderness as a treasure of inestimable worth. It allows the wild creatures to fulfill their God-given responsibility to multiply and fill their portion of the earth. Caring for the wilderness is an aspect of the dominion and stewardship mandated to us by our Creator. Further, it helps to preserve our own health and to assure our continued survival. Further still, it no doubt holds many future benefits we are currently not even aware of.

Nancy Newhall reminded us over fifty years ago, in a book featuring the masterful black-and-white wilderness photos of Ansel Adams, that the wilderness holds answers to questions man has not yet learned to ask.

Finally, we come to an observation by John Muir: “Like most other things not apparently useful to man, [poison oak] has few friends, and the blind question, ‘Why was it made?’ goes on and on with never a guess that first of all it was made for itself.”

Muir was hinting at a purpose for the natural world that the patriarch Job learned when God paraded before his mental vision the entire cosmos He created. In the longest direct address of God in the Scriptures (the 129 verses of Job 38-41), the Creator Himself uses numerous parts of the natural world that were at that time in history beyond human control, human understanding, and human utility to humble Job with the reality that we cannot know all the purposes of God for wild creatures and wild places.

The apostle John, however, does reveal to us one of God’s purposes: He created all things for His pleasure (Rev. 4:11 KJV). So if the natural world was in part created to give God pleasure, are we not being irreverent when we forget that while people can preserve, conserve, or destroy the wilderness, only God can create it?

In the course of our enjoying and properly valuing the wilderness, we can be motivated by the words of Isaac Watts:

I sing the mighty power of God that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command and all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord that filled the earth with food;
He formed the creatures with His word and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed where’er I turn my eye:
If I survey the ground I tread or gaze upon the sky!

There’s not a plant or flower below but makes Thy glories known;
And clouds arise and tempests blow by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care,
And everywhere that man can be, Thou, God, art present there.

See you outdoors!

Dean

Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power
and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made,
so that men are without excuse.
(Romans 1:20)

I’ve often used this verse and its context in apologetic discussions with folks who were not followers of Christ, but a few years ago I began to concentrate on what Paul’s statement means within a believer’s life.  I considered primarily what Paul said that all people, believer and unbeliever alike, ought to be able to “see” in the natural creation.  The NIV states that we can see God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and His divine nature—in the creation itself.  In studying the word “divine,” I concluded that something divine is superhuman, God-like, supremely good, magnificent, and compels human beings to worship.  Then I asked myself just exactly what is it about the natural world that would demonstrate our Creator’s eternal power and His right to be worshiped. 

Over a number of years, I created this list from my observations of the creation and from interactions with others on backpacking trips and other outdoor retreats.  I don’t believe this list is exhaustive; so I’d love to have our readers drop in brief comments on other aspects of the wild that have shown you God’s eternal power and His right to be the only entity in the cosmos worthy of our worship.

Here’s what I have seen in the natural world:

1.    Mysterious light and matter
       (which still defy human definition and understanding)
2.    Seemingly endless time
        (no clearly apparent beginning or end)
3.    Seemingly endless space 
       (eternality seen in the microcosm and macrocosm)
4.    Astronomical extravagance and magnitude
       (“Billions and billions” -Sagan)
5.    Wonderful life
       (inexplicable in essence and origin-
       and known on earth alone)
6.    Fearsome, but essential, death
       (which is marvelously linked to life)
7.    Profound mystery
       (beyond human understanding)
8.    Abiding orderliness
       (out of seeming chaos)
9.    Regular cycles
       (making the creation mostly predictable)
10.  Sabbath rest
       (the balance of rest with activity)
11.  Revitalizing stillness
       (quieting the human soul)
12.   Unfathomable complexity
       (defying human simplification)
13.   Awesome power
        (far exceeding our own)
14.   Incredibly informed design
       (absolutely beyond human duplication)
15.   Virtually endless variety
       (unbelievable biodiversity)
16.   Amazing adaptability
       (micro-evolutionary change)
17.   Overwhelming beauty
        (thrilling the heart and soul)
18.   Extravagant fruitfulness
       (offering all creatures more than enough)
19.   Limitless sensory stimulation
       (candy for the senses)
20.   Abundant joy (“even the worm can feel 
       contentment” -Schiller)
21.   Fear of people
       (grieving the human soul)
22.   The image of God: mankind  
       (An unbridgeable gap between people and the other
        creatures—people  alone having the capacity for creative
        thinking, abstract reasoning, and symbolic language—and
        having innate morality and the instinct to worship)

Can you add to this list from your own observations?

See you outdoors!

Dean

My friend Bob Barr, director of support services for the Au Sable Institute for Environmental Studies, once shared with me how the wonder of creation made a profound impact on his life–an impact that is still bearing fruit.  [See the Website Link to Au Sable in the sidebar.]

Bob had returned from his tour of duty in Vietnam healthy in body but wounded emotionally and spiritually.  Though he was a follower of Christ, he felt estranged from his Creator and confused about what God was doing in his life-indeed, what God was doing in and with the world.  He was angry and frustrated with God.  Hoping to at least get relief from dwelling on this inner turmoil, he joined a group of friends on a backpacking trip into the mountains of Colorado.  While the excitement and toil of the trek distracted him temporarily from his spiritual struggle, the restlessness in his soul kept breaking through into his consciousness-compelling him one evening to go off alone into the alpine tundra that surrounded their campsite high above the tree line.

Here’s the story Bob told:

I remember walking away from the camp one evening and looking across a narrow valley.  We were at 11,500 feet, camped at the foot of a sheer rock face that went up to 13,800 feet. The sun was beginning to set-filling the sky and landscape with spectacular colors, and I was struck by God’s power and the majesty of the world that He had created. Then my eyes were drawn down to my feet where tuffets of tundra grass were crowned with little flowers. On the side of one tuft was a little opening, and a small bird was nesting there-surrounded by beautiful white and blue wildflowers.  As I bent down to look closer, the bird flew away leaving behind tiny eggs the size of jellybeans. At once I was overwhelmed with God’s presence, thinking about His power and authority and majesty as the Creator of these mountains.

He had created this vast vista, but He also cared to create beautiful little flowers and these tiny birds to live in this harsh environment. They were nesting there very comfortably-God caring for the small things in the midst of this awesome bigness. His presence was then was so real to me that I still get emotional thinking about it more than thirty years later. I felt His presence so strongly that I couldn’t stand up. I was forced to my knees. And if you can hear an audible voice of God, I heard that voice, and His words to me were, “Bob, I am with you. And everything is okay.”

In the quiet wonder of a mountain wilderness, Bob discovered the presence of One who long ago had said, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).  A sojourn in the wilderness produced, once again, the profound spiritual healing that so many followers of Christ have experienced over the centuries.

[If you have a story like this to tell,
please feel free to share it.]

See you outdoors,

Dean

No doubt the value of wilderness is almost more in what is not found there than in what is.  Consider what we typically do not find in a true uninhabited wilderness (uninhabited by humans, that is!):

. . . personal multipliers of power (vehicles, motorized tools,
electricity, and so forth)
. . . markets and marketers
. . . external temptations
. . . false values
. . . lying words
. . . too many voices to attend to
. . . too many people to relate to
. . . racial, ethnic, and gender tensions
. . . personal deception and pretense (masks)
. . . meaningless entertainment
. . . an overload of news (information)
. . . an overload of human technology
. . . an overload of noise
. . . the need to talk incessantly
. . . responsibilities clamoring for attention
. . . constant time pressure
. . . any sense that I am in control

Is there any person who cannot benefit from being relieved of these stresses from time to time?

Note: This list in abbreviated form is found in our RBC booklet “Celebrating the Wonder of Wilderness.”  You can access the entire booklet on line from the WOC blogsite by moving over onto the right sidebar and selecting “Author Resources.”  When you’re there, click on “Discovery Series” and then select the booklet you want to read.  I have written 5 of them on the theme of celebrating the wonder of creation.  You can read them there, get them in a PDF file and print them off, or follow the prompts for ordering any of them in hard copy.  They would work well as meditations for a hike.  Several groups have used them for backpacking hikes, and so forth.