Woods, Water, Wilderness… and Bishop Chris
By the Rev. Peter Frank
Last fall, I had a crazy idea: what if I led a small men's group halfway across the United States to canoe and camp in a million acres of wilderness in far north of my home state of Minnesota? Then, a few months later, I had an even crazier idea: what if I invited our diocesan bishop, the Rt. Rev. Chris Warner, to come along? Imagine my surprise when Bishop Chris said yes. Second, imagine the shock of the small group of men aged 16 to 67 from Epiphany, Immanuel in Woodbridge, and Shepherd's Heart in Fairfax when I told them that our mystery guest would be our bishop.
Of course, I didn't really invite them to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) just to spend time with Bishop Chris. We can all do that much closer to home. Instead, we went out there for a week in late June for two interlocking reasons. First, we went out to worship. We began each day with Morning Prayer and prayed Evening Prayer as the sun went down every night. Time in the woods gives space for different rhythms and cuts us off from things that often get in the way of those rhythms. Singing over the waters of glacial lakes while standing on the rocky bones of the Canadian Shield gave us a new context for those everyday activities — I hope it sticks with us.
Second, we went out to get to know each other better as we canoed and portaged 30 miles. Adventures and hardship, at the right dosage, build relationships. We had some of both. There were strong winds to battle on a major lake the first day out. A big rainstorm (and missing groundsheets) led to some flooded tents one morning. And there was the time a certain trip leader (I'm not naming any names) thought it was a good idea to lead us through the dense Minnesota underbrush to some neat cliffs that were always just a couple hundred yards to the right. That all did its work. We know each other, and like each other, better than we did when we left.
Sometimes people say we should go to the wilderness to meet God. I don't think that is exactly true. God is here for the meeting, wherever we are today. That said, special things happen when we make purposeful decisions to strip away the long list of activities, worries, and communications (no cell phone coverage for hours in any direction in the BWCAW). We are better able to meet the God who has been there waiting to meet us all along.
And man, is it beautiful out there.
Editor’s Note: The Rev. Peter Frank is the rector of Church of the Epiphany in Chantilly, VA. Peter grew up in the north woods of Minnesota and was thrilled to show off his home state to east-coast friends. He’s considering leading another canoe adventure next summer. If you would be interested, send him an email: pfrank@epiphanyanglican.net.