A Catechism of Nature

This book considers the problem of ecological degradation from the perspective of a Christian clergyman and hunter. Drawing on the tradition of Christian mysticism, the author offers a series of meditations on various aspects of the natural world, including oceans and prairies, weather patterns, the changing of seasons, animal and plant communities, and the ways humans engage with them. He sees the intellectual and spiritual roots of the modern ecological crisis in a turn of thought coming from the Enlightenment that makes the value of the natural world a function of its utility, and he offers a way out that is centered in prayer and humility.