I loved the book Faith of Cranes by Hank Lentfer. I read it on Kindle but I am ordering a hard copy so I can share it with Marcia and others. It might turn up under a few Christmas trees this Christmas, as well. If you love Alaska you will probably like this book. If you have ever despaired, even mildly, of what we are doing to the wilderness, you will probably like this book. If you have grown cynical about modern civilization, you will probably like this book. If you need a revival of faith in the beauty of life, the splendid idea of life (as Lentfer calls it), you will probably like this book. If you like to hunt, fish, or hike, you will probably like this book. If you ever thought you wanted to find a wild few acres and build your own home, hunt for your own food, heat your home with a wood stove, and take long walks next to the ocean, you will probably like this book. If you have children or like to look at life through their eyes, you will probably like this book. If you are afraid of death, the death of our culture, the death of the wilderness, or your own death, you will probably like this book. Probably, I am not saying you will because I am sure there are reasons people might not like this book. I am not aware of them at the moment.
The monks of the early church (and some modern day ones) took a vow of obedience to stay in one place. The vow of stability they called it. To care for one place, and for all those who pass by that place. To care for the land and the people. To be undistracted by all the important and exciting stuff going on in other places. To grow roots. To learn and hopefully grow wise. To appreciate the beauty that is there.
"If lamenting the loss of beauty is itself a beautiful act, can beauty really ever diminish?"
Small things lovingly done, are always within our reach" (David James Duncan)
