Reflection:

Wilderness – an all embracing theme…

Rugged beauty of Sheepshead Way, West Cork, Ireland

As we celebrate our third theme for the Season of Creation 2020 we are drawn more deeply into the world of nature as it is in itself – in its raw and terrible beauty, in its Otherness. This is because the notion of Wilderness does not refer to any one concrete aspect of the Natural World. Rather it encapsulates all of it in some sense. When talking of Wilderness we could be referring to the rugged hills, the snow-capped mountains, the ancient forests, the vast deserts, the deep oceans, the misty bogs or lonely moors… Wilderness suggests them all. Such vistas have the power to fill us with wonder and awe. We find ourselves drawn to such places.

Wilderness – the magnificence of nature
In Laudato Si Pope Francis reminds us how Francis of Assisi requested that part of the friary garden be left untouched so that ‘wild flowers and herbs could grow there’  – an unusual request in a time when everything in nature had a value for human wellbeing [not in an exploitative way] but focused on human welfare none the less. This allowance of ‘wilderness’ – wild spaces – ran counter to the efforts to civilise and tame, which would have been a hallmark of most monastic settlements of the Middle Ages.  The idea of wilderness had connotations of bad-lands, wasteland or hinterland. Francis saw something more. Those who would take the time to notice such wild spaces ‘could raise their minds to God’ the Creator of all things, of all spaces.

Wilderness – a place apart…
Wilderness suggests wild spaces not yet infiltrated by humans and human civilising power. That may be why it is so often used as a space for transformation. We are invited apart, lured, so that we can hear more deeply the voice of the deep – the mystery. We are less likely to be distracted by the numbing effect of human artefacts and creations.

‘I am going to lure her and lead her out into the wilderness and speak to her heart.’ Hosea 2:14

‘Then Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness…’ Matthew 4:1

In both scriptural texts neither Israel nor Jesus decided, of their own accord, to go to the Wilderness, they were led there, lured there, invited there, so that something profound could happen.  Deep in our Judeo-Christian tradition, the notion of going out into the Wilderness is a common theme. Being invited to that space apart is a profound invitation. It seems that this is the space we need to be in so that we can best listen… so that we can best hear that voice deep within…

Wilderness – a place of danger…
But as we listen for that voice deep within that hint of invitation, which often is small and quiet, we must take great care. Wilderness is full of danger, full of moments of testing.  The tradition tells us Jesus was tested for 40 days and nights prior to embarking on his public ministry.  We need to take great care, to pay attention because we don’t quite know what might happen. Wilderness spaces are not the safest places in the world, but perhaps they are the more exciting ones. And they have the potential for profound transformation.

The Preservation of the World
And it seems that there is wilderness without and wilderness within. And moreover these are closely linked. As in everything we human beings emerged out of the bigger picture the great mystery of existence, and so our cultures and creations have likewise emerged out of a more all-embracing richness and diversity. As the conservationist Aldo Leopold puts it:

‘The rich diversity of the world’s cultures reflects a corresponding diversity in the wilds that gave them birth…’

That being the case, he concludes, it is ‘the raw wilderness’ that ‘gives definition and meaning to the human enterprise.’

Thus it is incumbent on all of us, for our own sake as well as for the sake of the larger enterprise – the mystery we call life – that we do our utmost at every level to preserve such places.

Indeed, as Thoreau points out:

‘In wilderness is the preservation of the world.’

Sunrise over Inchydoney Beach, Clonakilty, Co Cork

Prayer – Psalm 18

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of God’s hands.
Day unto day takes up the story;
and night unto night makes known the message.
No speech, no words, no voice is heard
Yet their span extends through all the earth,
their words to the utmost bounds of the world…

Getting Involved:
There are many organisations and groups engaged in such preservation at various levels today. Should you like to find out more or perhaps support such groups, you could click on the following links to access a few:

• Green Sod Ireland which aims to protect wild spaces
• African Wildlife Foundation  and Friends of the Earth  organisations which look at a range of issues to do with the wellbeing of our Planet
• Finally,  to view a  link to a Season of Creation Wilderness Ritual, please click here

All images by Margaret Twomey rsm

Margaret Twomey rsm
Southern Province