Stuck in a New Book

" I have often had the occasion while
walking these hills or kayaking this
lake to reflect on how important
PLACE is in living the Christian faith.
As I let the biblical revelation form my
imagination , geography ~~
this specifically Montana, Flathead
Valley geography ~~ became as important
in orienting me in the "land of the living"
as theology and the Bible did. I was
becoming aware that every detail in the life
of salvation that I was becoming familiar
with in the scriptures took shape in named
places that, with a good map, I can still
locate : Ur and Haran, Bethel and Peniel....
I was learning that every detail in my life
of salvation was taking place ON and IN
a named place......Soil and stone, latitude
and longitude, lakes and mountains,
towns and cities keep a life of faith
grounded, rooted, in PLACE.
But wherever I went, I always ended up
here. This was the geography of my
imagination: the sighting of a pigmy
owl in feathered silence pouncing on a
field mouse on Blacktail Mountain, the
emergence through spring snow of the
first avalanche lilies in Jack's Meadow,
surprising a grizzly bear, the iconic
beast of these mountains, on the Garden
Wall trail. Holy ground, sacred space."