Forrest Inslee, Wild Guide

Brief Bio. I am a son of the Pacific Northwest, born and raised in Seattle, and deeply at home in the surrounding mountains, forests, rivers and seas. I’ve also lived in other amazing places at various stages of my vocational journey: I lived for many years in Chicago, where I studied for BA in English, an MA focused on contemporary Native American cultures, and a PhD in ethnography (the study of culture through participatory research and deep listening) that focused on the culture of homeless folks. I moved to British Columbia to pursue a second MA, this time in Cross-Cultural Theology. And then it was off to Istanbul where I was a missionary/church planter and social entrepreneur for a number of years. While in Turkey, I adopted an infant at birth, a little girl whom I named Kayra; her name means “grace” in Turkish, and she has definitely been that for me in all my 23+ years now as her parent. 

Eventually Kayra and I returned home to Seattle, where I launched a master’s degree program in International Community Development at Northwest University. I taught for that program for 16 years, and only recently left that role to focus on my work with a faith-based environmental organization called Circlewood. In that context, I work with churches and cohorts of individuals who want to understand how earth care can be (must be!) a core element of Christian faith praxis. I also host a podcast called Earthkeepers, which features conversations at the intersection of practical creation care and earthy spirituality. 

Tell us a bit about who you are and how you came to this work.

Because I work in an organization concerned with ecology, education, and spirituality, it was inevitable that I would become familiar with the Wild Church movement, and with the Seminary of the Wild. I met Victoria just before the Covid lockdowns began, and asked her to be a guest in the first season of the Earthkeepers podcast. Those interactions set us on a path to becoming friends, and we’ve stayed in touch since. I’ve watched the development of the Seminary of the Wild over the years, and have seen how the school has been transformative for so many. I now feel honored to learn even more about it even as I work to support it as a Guide.

What are the lands that raised you, and how has your own connection with the natural world influenced your path?

It was my privilege to have been raised by parents who allowed me and my siblings to range freely and grow up a little bit wild. It was also a gift to have had easy walkable access to nearby forests, and beaches on the Salish Sea. Even as a young boy, I was aware of the presence of the numinous whenever I spent time in the wild; I eventually came to recognize that presence as God and Spirit—and in my later adult years, as Christ the Creator. I confess that I lost my way in my university years, ironically through my deep involvement with a church community in the evangelical tradition. In that cultural context I adopted the misguided stance that people were paramount over the rest of creation, and that the work of Jesus was only really about the saving of human souls (since the rest of the physical world would eventually fade away). I am glad to say that I’ve since embraced a much broader conception of grace, and of God’s love for the whole of creation—including but not limited to its human elements.

Why do you believe a practice of spiritual connection with the earth is important for our time?

I believe that spiritual connection with the earth is actually our natural state of being. That is, we were created to live in intimate relationship with all of the rest of creation. I’ve learned a lot from Indigenous friends, who have helped me to see myself as part of a larger family of creation. Correspondingly, I’ve come to understand that the purposes of my life are framed by the broader aspiration of being a good relative to my human and more than human brothers and sisters. 

In your experience, what are some of the barriers or challenges individuals or communities face in developing a deeper connection with nature?

Those of us who have been raised in the context of a dominant Western worldview, I think, have been enculturated to value ways of thinking and being that idealize separation from nature. That worldview has encouraged the objectification and commodification of nature through conceptions of land ownership and resource exploitation. That worldview has taught us to celebrate principles like personal autonomy, rugged individualism, and geographic mobility that work against the formation of deep, lasting integration with communities and places. So truly, when we take action to seek deeper connection with nature—with the community of creation where we live—we are choosing ways that are fundamentally countercultural. And that’s a good thing.

What practices (big or small) can help heal our disconnection from the natural world?

In my experience there are, happily, so many ways we can heal our disconnection from the natural world! Many of these ways are informed by practices of deep listening—or maybe more accurately, deep sensing—as a means of engaging our particular places and their particular ecologies/communities. I really think that every person has the capacity to embrace deep listening as a way of being. For most of us though it does not come easy, since we’ve not had the natural opportunities to learn to listen deeply in a culture that in effect keeps us distracted and disconnected. If we choose to be humble, receptive, and curious though, we can become deep listeners who honor the earth and who embrace right relationship with the community of creation. And in my view, that is a more beautiful way to live.

What are you looking forward to offering as a guide in Seminary of the Wild Earth?

Personally, one of the things that I am anticipating about being a team member is experiencing new opportunities for growth. I have been an educator for decades, I think I can offer some wisdom from experience when it comes to creating effective contexts of learning and formation. Being a Guide for Seminary of the Wild though means that I’m taking part in a different mode and context of formation than what I am most used to. What that means is that, even as I help support the transformation of others in the program, I will also be challenged in new ways that transform me—and that thought fills me with hope and anticipation.

Can you share a story of a meaningful encounter with the Holy Wild personally?

Very recently, I was heading upstairs to go to bed, and I happened to glance out the window to the street below. There was a beautiful coyote there, with a really fluffy tail. And while I had heard coyotes in the woods behind my house before, I had never actually seen one in the neighborhood. In that moment, I was aware of two responses in me: The first was: I should take a picture and post it to my neighbors on Facebook, and how cool would that be. But I quickly stopped myself, since I recognized that response as both shallow and unthoughtful. My second response then was the sort of “deep listening” response that I’ve been trying to learn in recent years. And that response was more along the lines of: Be quiet. Be still. This coyote is allowing himself to be seen by you, and that is an honor. Stay in the moment, and just be. Just love. 

Then the coyote left, and I went up to bed, and I took that coyote into my dreams.