ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It takes a village to write a book, starting in the home. I’m the dad to three joyful creatures named Ella, Heulwen and Bridget. They have followed me into the wilderness their whole life and have contributed more to this book than anyone else. I am grateful for their sacrifices in helping me write this, which I have written chiefly for them. My family, Rob and Melody, Shane and Hannah, have been a source of support and love all my life and I owe my love for nature to them. The parish community of All Saints of Alaska Orthodox Church in Victoria, BC, which I served for ten years, always supported and believed in me and they taught me more than I think I ever taught them. Serving that community was the most rewarding work I have ever done and I felt then what I feel now: I was the luckiest priest alive when I was with them. For four years I led a group of people – called the Group of Twelve – into the wilderness for seminars on just the subjects I discuss here. I owe each member of that group enormous gratitude and confess that much of their insight and many of the experiences they provided stand behind every page. I’m the kind of man that is blessed with many faithful friends, many of whom have hiked with me and will smile, I’m sure, when they see how many of the things we discussed on the trail have found their way to these chapters. The Stobbes, Bugslags, Wetherells, Schroedels, Jordans, as well as Ginnoula, Andrew, Charles, James, Vera, Andrea, Jean-Claude, Ambrose, Heidi, Akeiko, Muryn, Gabe and Kelsey and many others have taught me the meaning of friendship. I am especially grateful to Matt Root, who read each of these chapters closely and never failed to encourage me in the process. I am filled with thanksgiving for the many brother clergy who have shaped me, both as mentors and as friends: Frs. Hopko, Behr, Francis, Raffan, Skidmore, Koblosh, Baxter, Scratch, Papazian, Maitland-Muir, Archbishop Seraphim and many more whom I love. I owe the entire RMB team, and Don Gorman in particular, enormous gratitude for their support, patience and encouragement throughout the writing of this manifesto. My best friend, Deacon Kevin Miller, used to tell me weekly that every good work I do, no matter how small or big, was being cheered on by God, the angels, the saints, my friends and all of creation. However, when it felt as though the cheers fell silent, it was always his voice that I heard and the only one I needed to hear. “Greater love has no man than this, that he would give his life for his friend” (John 15:13). You are my friend, Kevin. Finally, there is Deborah – poet, punk, activist, visionary, lover of nature, courageous mind, gardener, author, mother (the fabulous kind) – the midwife to this book.

K.H.\ Father’s Day, 2014\ Wells Gray Provincial Park, BC