America the Beautiful

America the Beautiful

As we begin the celebration of America’s 250th year, we recall how our encounters with the wild lands of the continent were central to making the country and our national character. The benefits of time spent in wild places await us still.  I sat down for an...
Landscapes of Grace

Landscapes of Grace

Landscapes of Grace: Hiking, Faith, and Finding Yourself in the Wild is now available on my Amazon page. “Landscapes of Grace is more than a collection of hiking stories – it’s an invitation… I strongly recommend that you read to this book, take the...
The Grandest of Adventures

The Grandest of Adventures

A few summers ago, I had the great privilege (and I do intend to use the word “privilege”) to spend some weeks in Paris with my wife and daughter, and then a couple of weeks trekking with my youngest son through the Picos de Europa mountains in northern Spain. It was...
Rejoice!

Rejoice!

In the lead-up to Easter, 2026, organizations and news agencies around the country are reporting a surge in the number of people joining the Catholic Church. From religious publications like the National Catholic Register to the thoroughly secular New York Times,...
A place of greater safety

A place of greater safety

Compared to some, I spend a lot of time tramping around outside and sleeping on the ground in a thin, nylon tent. When I factor my age into this comparison, I am now comfortably in my sixties, I suspect that relative to all people my age, I spend a lot of time...