Out Walking: Reflections on Our Place in the Natural World

by John Leax

The earth is the Lords, writes Leax; it is not ours to use as we please. But because we are fallen and are in the process of being restored, our attempts to live responsibly are inevitably incomplete, half-understood, and sometimes simply wrong. In this entertaining but thought-provoking book, John Leax, admitting his own ineffectual bumbling, thinks out loud about our place in the natural world. Though he doesnt claim to have all the answers, he suggests that the tension between culture and nature is best resolved through our living respectfully in relationship to the earth, restraining ourselves in our use of it. By taking pleasure in the small gestures toward wholeness that can be made in the confusion around us, Leax demonstrates the richness of such a friendship. This beautifully written and designed book includes a section of poetry and would make an excellent gift.

Genres: Nature, Natural History, Poetry

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that I should have loved but I would really only give it 2.5 stars. I was drawn in totally by the prologue and I was so excited but then things just fizzled for me from there. This author seemed to be so grumpy and judgmental of everyone around him, sometimes including himself, that it got under my skin. There were one passage and a poem that I really appreciated...

"Fear is a passing emotion. Unless it is ingrained and turned to hatred, it is closely related to awe, and awe leads not to destruction but to worship. Deeper than fear, and more destructive, is a prideful refusal to acknowledge any connectedness to the creation. This pride is ultimately gnostic: it denies value to creaturehood and longs for a state of pure spirituality. In its benign form it sings, 'This world is not my home.' In its malignant form it kills. It is, perhaps, the original sin of the gardeners of Eden."

a prayer for order

Father of all creatures,
whose dwelling extends beyond this world,
let no one trivialize your being.
Let your order prevail.
Let your intentions come to be
for creation and for yourself.
Give us, each day, no more than we need,
and forgive us when we take for ourselves
the well being of others,
as we forgive others who see to take ours.
Lead us away from our dreams of power
that we might be whole,
satisfied in you.

[Patrick Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the early spring, when preparing to give a devotional at an upcoming choir rehearsal, I pulled "Out Walking" off my shelf and began leafing through it. I did not take anything from it for the devotional. Not that I couldn't have; in fact I have done so before. It's full of wonderful stuff. I decided to reread it an essay or two at a time as my bedtime wind-down exercise. It is excellent for that purpose. I enjoyed it even more this time than before because now I have two personal connections to it. The first is that my friend and fellow chorister, Sandra Duguid Gerstman, is a former student of John Leax. Her recently published collection of poems, "Pails Scrubbed Silver," was endorsed by John Leax. The second is that "Out Walking" was endorsed by Bill McKibben. I was surprised to see that he had endorsed not only this book but also "Where Mortals Dwell" by Craig Bartholomew, which I am reading these days. I took the opportunity to write to Mr. McKibben via his publisher and he actually wrote back.

Recently a study was published that suggested that taking a walk in a wooded area was a good way to relieve stress. I agree, but I also think that reading "Out Walking" and other similar volumes can be an effective substitute for helping to refocus our thinking on things that matter.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leax, a Christian and an Environmentalist, a protector advocate of Earth as much as an advocate for careful-stepping humanity living within it, provides several personal essays describing this balancing act, this uneasy trade off between the natural world and the humans that inhabit it. Tremendously crafted by virtue of it's measured understatement, Leax speaks volumes with fewer words, conveying meaning without the superfluous excess of a reviewer who also graced several of his Writing classes at Houghton College (AKA, yours truly).

Another magnificent work. And I am most assuredly biased. :-)

[Marjorie Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is our age, a graduate of and retired professor at Houghton College, where Jim went. I first heard of him at the Calvin Festival of Faith and Writing. We enjoyed reading this book of essays, creative nonfiction and poems aloud to each other. It probably increased our observations on the many walks we take together, as well as our general appreciation for God's Creation.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by a professor from Western New York, this is part memoir/part poetry collection. The musings on the natural world around him were pleasant, though most were not very memorable. I am not a big fan of poetry - though I thought the one titled The Larger Flow was pretty cool. Overall, a pleasant read.