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"Thank you for the opportunity to seek God in the wilderness. The retreat into nature was the perfect chance to spend quality time with God. I commend your ministry and exceptional outdoor education."
~ Meredith Warden

 

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About Founder and Author John Lionberger

John Lionberger

From John Lionberger, MDiv
I was a very contented agnostic — and probably an atheist — until my first extended trip into the wilderness as a middle-aged adult. It was a dogsled trip in northern Minnesota, and in early February the nights would go to -40 degrees. Standing alone in the middle of a frozen lake, I was suddenly and unexpectedly overwhelmed by a sense of profound warmth, from the inside out, and ultimately with the absolute knowledge of Something Bigger Than I Am. At that point I certainly didn't want to call it God, but I've never been able to find a better word for it.

No one could have been more surprised than I was. I was there just for the adventure. I certainly wasn't looking for God, and for a while I tried hard to ignore the experience. But God ambushed me in that frozen wilderness. Ultimately I could not ignore it and nothing has been the same since...not necessarily easier, but much better, and I feel I have more than a passing knowledge of the spiritual things that can happen in the wilderness. I left a long-time business career to attend Chicago Theological Seminary, with the idea of doing this work.

Since that experience, nearly every one of my wilderness trips has had the same effect: invariably I regain both a relationship with God and a balance that usually eludes me in the "real" world. I experience a deep, lasting sense of peace and I gain a better understanding of my purpose. And, if you'll read the testimonials that are scattered throughout this website you'll see that my experiences are not unique, and that the experience is not new. People have been doing this for at least 6000 years, and we tap into the same spiritual vein that the 2009 PBS special on our national parks talked about so eloquently. The wilderness has an amazing capacity to touch people in ways that change their lives.

Renewal in the Wilderness

My book, Renewal in the Wilderness: A Spiritual Guide to Connecting With God in the Natural World, is about my experiences, those of the people on my trips, and those of people from around the world for a very long time. Going to the wilderness is an ancient practice that goes almost as far back as we can trace written history, and it has spanned the globe. People from 6000 years ago would recognize much of what we do today, and would know intimately what we experience. The need to experience a deeper spirituality in a natural surrounding seems almost embedded in human DNA, and the experience itself may be the common language with which we can speak to each other of God without shedding blood. Even atheists, after spending time in the wilderness, know the feeling of Something Bigger Than We Are.

Here are some excerpts from the book:

"How can I say I see divinity in the wilderness? How can I say I feel God’s presence in a chorus of loons, in the throaty chuffing of a family of otter, in the primal call-and-response howling of wolves, in the splendor of a bald eagle, in a gibbous moon’s shimmering wash of orange light on dark moving water, in the healing silence of wild places, or in a day when my soul has known the amazing grace of utter peace for six straight hours? How can I say I see God in those things? But how can I say that I don’t?"

"In the wilderness, where things are silent and simple, and unclouded by puny human strivings, the heart, unlike the mind—at least my mind—is willing to go way beyond the rational and into the spiritual, way past the limits of the possible into the limitlessness of Possibility. I think of it as LASIK surgery, but for the soul."

~ excerpts from Renewal in the Wilderness: A Spiritual Guide to Connecting to God in the Natural World

> LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BOOK...

Through the years, I've continued my wilderness travels and training:

  • I've been on horse packing trips in the Tetons, on dog sledding and cross country ski trips in northern Minnesota, and on back country ski trips in the Rockies and the Cascades.
  • I've been backpacking in the Talkeetna Mountains of Alaska, in the Peruvian Andes, and in the Absoroka-Beartooths in Montana; and I've been mountain bike camping in the wilderness of North Carolina.
  • I've been whitewater canoeing on the Rio Grande in Texas; sea kayaking in British Columbia, Lake Superior, Florida and Hawaii; and I've spent months canoeing in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, and in Wisconsin.

I'm certified by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), the finest hard skills school of its kind (they train astronauts in expedition behavior), and I've been certified in Wilderness First Aid by the Wilderness Medical Associates. In addition to running Renewal in the Wilderness, I also served on Outward Bound's Board of Trustees for six years, as well as on their Wilderness Board.

I hope you'll join Renewal in the Wilderness on a trip. Extraordinary things can happen in the wilderness, that both renew and change lives forever. Surprise yourself… thrill God: meet each other in the wilderness.

John in the News

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Excerpts are from Renewal in the Wilderness: A Spiritual Guide to Connecting with God in the Natural World 2007 by John Lionberger (Woodstock, VT: SkyLight Paths Publishing). Permission granted by SkyLight Paths Publishing, P.O. Box 237, Woodstock,VT 05091 www.skylightpaths.com.

 

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