From Eternity to Eternity: Wilderness Advocacy

 in an Evangelical Christian Context

Section 3-E

by David Patrick, Jr.

"My spirits infallibly rise in proportion to the outward dreariness…. I enter a swamp as a

                sacred place – a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength, the marrow of Nature."

      In his essay "Walking" (the same essay wherein resides one of the wilderness advocate's dearest quotes, "in Wildness is the preservation of the World") Thoreau captures that which escapes so many - the inexplicable draw of wildness, ordered chaos, a sense of awe in the presence of such excessive, raw life. Are we touched by this because of some deep, primal connection to the wild "marrow" of the planet, handed down through our DNA from generation to generation? Or is it, as some believe, because it is by intelligent design a part of our nature to recognize the Great Artist' hand at work in the created world, offered in its purest form in wilderness?

"The forms and creeds of religion change, but the sentiment of religion – the wonder and reverence and love we feel in the presence of the inscrutable universe – persists."

      The great American writer, John Burroughs, in his 1905 essay, "The Gospel of Nature" describes the lessons to be learned from nature, and does so in a manner similar to a sermon offered in church on a Sunday morning. Illustrating the deep truth of the inter-connectedness of all life, he writes, "When we come to see that the celestial and terrestrial are one, that time and eternity are one, that mind and matter are one, that death and life are one, that there is and can be nothing not inherent in Nature, then we no longer look for or expect a far-off, unknown God." In wilderness we are vulnerable, open and exposed to the close Spirit of God whose character is so evident in its "untrammeled" constructs of earth and tree and sky.

      Through the years, our drive to conquer wildness has been justified by struggles to tame the land and to make a home (though both Thoreau and Burroughs illustrate that, even as early as the mid-nineteenth century there were reservations about the uncontrolled nature of that drive), as well as a scriptural directive of planetary dominion. In more recent times, evangelical Christians have feared any appearance of pantheism, and so have kept at arm's length much needed ethical support for creation stewardship.

      Now it falls to this generation to recognize that the creation is conquered, dominated, subdued. Like a child, dependent and helpless, the creation came to fullness through its parent, The Word; for a time, the creation was wild and powerful, and Man was a bright and driven child, subject to its power; but it is the wilderness that has, to some extent, become the child, dependent upon Man's restraint and foresight to survive. In wilderness today we experience that early God-given drive to survive and attain, to overcome that which is insurmountable, and it is a glorious feeling. But how much more glorious then is the recognition that we have survived, attained, overcome – and then shown respect for, and restraint in living with, the once great power of wilderness? This is what God wants for us in wilderness – our appreciation for this portrait of what is wild and great about His nature, and a portrait of how great Man can be in his restraint and benevolent dominion.

      Many fundamentalist Christians argue that the protection of wilderness is a moot point since the scriptures say the creation will ultimately be redeemed by Christ upon his return (Revelations 21). This ignores the reality of the whole of scripture, which also says that no one knows the time of Christ's return (Matthew 24:36), and so it must be assumed that the earth will serve many future generations, perhaps for millennia. It is fundamentally Christian to be concerned about the welfare and quality of life of others, and this includes the condition of their physical environment.

"(We) direct our efforts toward the perpetual – to project into the eternity of the future some of that precious, unspoiled, ecological inheritance that has come to us out of the eternity of the past."

      When Howard Zahniser, author of and advocate for the Wilderness Act of 1964, wrote and spoke these words in 1957, he was referring to the full eternity of the universe, as created and perpetuated by an eternal God. Zahniser was born and raised in the Free Methodist tradition, a small, fundamentalist, evangelical denomination which taught him the persuasiveness of missionary zeal and the power of revival. He used these tools in his own quiet way to lobby for the Wilderness Act which, against all odds, found a sympathetic audience in a national, grass-roots coalition of living room conservationists.

      Today, we as Christians can draw our strength from a well which springs from that pure and noble source – Zahnie’s love for the Creator of wilderness. This generation's evangelism for wilderness is a spilling out of hope and determination that someday, when we can only watch and no longer chase the mountains at the edge of God's wild land, even then we will watch our children and their children and their children chase an unbridled range.

      Because of Howard Zahniser and his faithful passion, it is still our right and opportunity today to go Walkabout, to travel to a great, wild place and see what God has made for us. In wilderness we discover God’s gifts of purest green and gold and blue, the purest reflection of that which was original and Good. In protecting wilderness we discover what is best about ourselves, and that knowledge is a signpost on the path to redemption.

      In his essay, “The Need for Wilderness” Howard Zahniser wrote, “We are a part of the wildness of the universe. That is our nature. Our noblest, happiest character develops with the influence of wildness.” Such character also develops with the influence of men of high vision, men like Howard Zahniser, whose faith in the power of multi-generational hope provides the spark for those who carry these treasured burdens of creation stewardship and wild lands advocacy today.

           David Patrick is director of the Zahniser

Institute for Environmental Studies,

   Greenville College, Greenville, Illinois