“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in, and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike,” John Muir The Yosemite, 1912.
John Muir came to the wilds of Wisconsin from Scotland as a young boy in 1849. He became a self-taught naturalist, author, environmental philosopher and powerful advocate for the preservation of wilderness. His letters, essays, and books have been read by millions and have shaped our thinking about our relationship with “wildness.” His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas.
Although John endured an austere and puritanical upbringing, he kept his faith in God by finding Him in nature and becoming His cleric. He wrote: “No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty.” By exploring the life of John Muir we can accept his invitation to discover that, “Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life.”