This week I’m in Louisville, KY, at the Spiritual Directors International conference, where I am honored to participate with other young spiritual directors and guides as a New Contemplative. As part of the New Contemplative Initiative, we were invited to write reflections on the conference’s theme, “Emerging Wisdom,” and I thought I’d share mine here with you. Any surprise that the theme took me straight to my daily walks in the forest? 

Each day I make my way down my busy street and into the quiet neighborhood that leads to Ravenna Park.

The park’s entry is along a small path hidden at the dead end, however once you cross the threshold into the park you’ll find that there is nothing small about it. The path begins at a bridge straddling a grand ravine, offering an aerial view of the forest below filled with ferns, streams, woodland creatures, and a few passersby seeking nourishment from the natural world. These sensations of the forest quickly transport me, and it doesn’t take long for me to forget that I’m in the heart of Seattle.

Over the past six months these walks to Ravenna Park have become my most treasured spiritual practice, and I like to think that the forest and I are developing and deep and lasting friendship. As a frequent visitor, it’s been a gift to witness the changing landscape of the forest—from the abundance of summer to the golden leaves of autumn and the quiet hibernation of winter. Now we are slowly transitioning to the season of spring, and the signs of emergence I witness on my daily walks whisper truths to me of the emerging nature of wisdom within our own spiritual search.

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