My first encounter with natural delight changed my life. I ended up leaving my parish ministry in North Carolina to move to the United Kingdom. Since then, I’ve gone out into wildernesses and the countryside with increasing regularity, spending as much time as I responsibly can soaking in the natural world and learning how to delight.
The modern hymn “In Christ Alone” has provoked controversy with its phrase "the wrath of God was satisfied." But there is a better way to understand “the wrath of God,” a way that displays its truth, goodness, and even its beauty.
Is there a Christian alternative to empathy? Can we react to others with compassionate warmth and care without imagining that we need to experience what they experience?
