To recover from ecological disaster, we humans must transform the sense of who we are in relation to the Earth.
In Search of Grace is the story of an ecological pilgrimage undertaken by the author in his small yacht, Coral, from the south of England and round the west coast of Ireland, to the far north of Scotland. It explores themes of pilgrimage: the overall pattern of separation from the everyday, venturing forth, and returning home. It tells of meeting wildlife, visiting sacred places, confronting danger, expanding and deepening the experience of time, of silence and of fragility.
About the Author
Peter Reason is a writer and a sailor and professor Emeritus at the University of Bath. His work links the tradition of nature writing with the ecological crisis of our times, drawing on scientific, ecological, philosophical and spiritual sources. Peter lives in Bath, UK.
Industry Reviews
In his years at the University of Bath, Peter Reason rose to prominence as a brave pioneer of Action Research - a participative approach to scholarly and whole-life inquiry, that refuted narrow reductionism. Now, in this meditatively written and richly interwoven account, he takes his inquiry further. Sailing his boat around the seas of Celtic lands, Reason gleans insights into these our troubled times, as glimpsed through the cracks of a deeper grace belonging to this planet Earth.--Prof. Alastair McIntosh, author of Poacher's Pilgrimage: An Island Journey
Peter Reason puts to sea in a purposeful wandering. This man in a boat is on an ecological pilgrimage and apart from having the skills and temperament to avoid capsize and deadly rocks, to weather storms and just not drown in a wild ocean that has us landlubbers shaking in our boots, there is work to do. How do you explore a deeper connection with the wild, the more-than-human world? How can a spiritual response to Nature support the pragmatic prevention of those destructive impulses that are causing such a dreadful state of affairs in the natural world? How do you articulate an experience of those unexpected and spontaneous sacred moments? This account from the liminal edge between these notions goes much further than anyone contemplating a sightseeing voyage would dare.--Paul Evans, author of Field Notes from the Edge: Journeys through Britain's wilderness