| Wilderness matters to the health and character of individuals and communities in a consumer-oriented society. The wilderness, as a site for the flourishing of the wild, can remind us that humankind is a new arrival on this earth, that primeval processes precede cultural history, and that it can be virtuous to leave some things alone. Chapter One, "Space for Gratitude," engages the idea of wilderness and contributes a perspective from religious ethics to the contemporary debate over the value of wild spaces in the United States. The first chapter explores the spiritual resource of wilderness through the language of gratitude, a move that focuses upon human experience but eludes reduction to mere instrumentalism.;Chapter Two, "'To Speak of Wilderness is to Speak of Wholeness,'" continues to explores the promise of wilderness as a place of connection in light of the formidable challenge of cultivating the disposition of gratitude in an alienating culture of commodification. The chapter argues that the disposition of gratitude offers an alternative to the experience of the alienation that occurs as a result of the endless improvement of the means, but not the ends, to which we live.;Chapter Three, "The Wilderness of America," investigates the possibility of the disposition of gratitude against the backdrop of the ideological legacy of the wilderness idea in the United States. The idea of wilderness can participate in legacies of oppression and exclusion, of domination and control. The third chapter unpacks some of the ways in which the wilderness of America relates to the experiences of those who have been on the underside of that ideal.;Chapter Four, "Departure and Return," considers gratitude as a religious disposition in conversation with four competing accounts of piety. This chapter focuses on the fluidity of the boundary between the wild and the domestic, as well the difference that is encountered in wild spaces. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the return from the wilderness, and the application of the lessons there learned. |
