Rev. Edwin J. Stanley’s 1873 tour of Yellowstone made him a witness to “the scepter of the irrepressible white man” in the divine right of Manifest Destiny.
Places
Holy Dirt: Review of The Healing Power of the Santuario de Chimayó
Review of “The Healing Power of the Santuario de Chimayó: America’s Miraculous Church” by Brett Hendrickson.
Acadia National Park: A Soul and Spirit Stretching Place
The current issue of Chebacco focuses on the history of religion on Maine’s largest island and includes my essay on religion in Acadia National Park.
Devil’s Slide or Angel’s Ascent?
Devil’s Slide north of Yellowstone National Park has unsettled the religious imaginations of visitors since the nineteenth century.
Warren Angus Ferris, Yellowstone’s first tourist
Warren Angus Ferris visited Yellowstone in 1834 as the first tourist to experience the thermal features, and the first person known to use the Icelandic word “geyser” to describe them.
Canary in the coal mine: national parks and the future of the earth
As the parks go, so goes the future of the earth. The sad state of national parks predicts an ominous outlook for the earth and the communities that rely on it.
Motion and movement
Leaving brings movement toward something new, toward a fresh sense of being and becoming, as we break free from the stagnant orbits of settled lives.
Old trees
Trees can grow to gargantuan proportions, given the right conditions and enough time. I am grateful for having touched some of the oldest and largest living things on earth.
Kiki at Graceland: Elvis’s most devoted fan
Kiki may be Elvis Presley’s most devoted fan, having moved to Memphis in 1985 from Greece to care for The King’s grave.
A sacred desecration: the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore
John (Fire) Lame Deer’s essay about the 1970 occupation of Mount Rushmore highlights a monumental clash between two visions of sacred land.