Rocks and Waters Are Words of God: Reflections On John Muir’s Ecological Reading of the Bible

In an era like ours, when the Christian scriptures are so often used as an excuse to harm others and destroy the environment in the name of God, wilderness explorer and preservationist John Muir (1838–1914) gives us a completely fresh perspective. Like those who perform the ancient monastic practice of lectio divina, Muir usually discovered insights within scriptural passages of which the original authors most likely were not aware. Rocks and Waters Are Words of God: Reflections on John Muir’s Ecological Reading of the Bible is a series of reflections on Muir’s insights into biblical passages and phrases. Each reflection begins with a scripture verse and is followed in turn by a passage in which Muir used a part of that verse in his writings in a manner similar to what monks and contemplatives have always done. Like them, he “tasted” the meanings of the scriptures, rather than simply processing them intellectually.