Landscape, Soul and Spirit

Ecology, Prayer and Robert Macfarlane

FAIRACRES PUBLICATION 224

How might we develop our spirituality in the context of an environmental crisis that demands changes to our individual and communal ways of life? There is a challenge to develop our inherited patterns of spiritual life in the current ecological context. This book aims to reflect on the Christian contemplative tradition in dialogue with writings of the leading nature writer, Robert Macfarlane. The argument is that each of his six books can be seen as nurturing a particular spiritual practice. In this, Macfarlane’s focus on interactions between landscapes and the soul is extended to include the spirit. At a time of crisis it is important to nourish contemplative approaches that engage our longings, attentiveness and sense of time. These enable us to discover renewal, hear fresh voices and live in union with all of life. This book acts both as an introduction to Macfarlane and a stimulus to further reflection on spirituality and the environment.

Revd Dr Andy Lord is Vicar of All Saints’ Didcot and Area Dean of Wallingford. He is the author of a number of books on spirituality and missiology, including Transforming Renewal: Charismatic Renewal Meets Thomas Merton (Pickwick Publications, 2015); Network Church: A Pentecostal Ecclesiology Shaped by Mission (Brill, 2012) and Immersed in God and the World: Living Priestly Ministry (SLG Press, 2024).