Hello, New Friends!

I’m seeing a lot of new faces here at Wild Goose Words—so, welcome, friends! Consider this my way of virtually rolling out the welcome mat and greeting you with some of my famous butterscotch scones.

(I jest. I can’t bake to save my life.)

Scones aside, though, welcome to my neck of the woods. The best hikes are taken with friends; I’m so thankful you’re hitting the trail with me. You can expect to receive a new musing or poem from me weekly(ish).

“Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting—

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.”

— from “Wild Geese,” by Mary Oliver

Introduction

A little about me: officially, I’m the author of six books, including the poetry collection High Country Hymnal, and my shorter works have been featured by publications such as Clayjar Review, Truly Co., Calla Press, Anselm Society, The Rabbit Room, Vessels of Light, and Heart of Flesh. Really, though, I’m just a wanderer and a wonderer who’s most at home where the streetlights die and the pavement ends. I usually have at least one interesting rock in my pockets, and I will scribble poetry on any available scrap of paper (and probably lose it later). I live in Arkansas for now, on the shoulders of the Ouachita Mountains, but my heart-home is my beloved Colorado Rockies. I feel closest to God and truest to myself in the High Country.

I play the guitar (somewhat badly) and piano (less badly). I love running, hiking, nature photography, and anything else that gives me an excuse to be outside. And birdwatching. Don’t ask me about birds unless you have an hour to spare.

I have a longstanding fascination with ancient history, particularly the Neolithic period. The storyteller blood of my Irish ancestors is very much alive in my veins, so I’m enchanted by myth and folklore, delighted by the ways humans throughout the ages have reached for Reality—and intrigued by the ancient wisdom that we only see glimmers of today. Don’t ask me about Stonehenge unless you have two hours to spare.

Most importantly, I’m captivated by Jesus. I believe that the story of “the Galilee Druid,” to quote Martin Shaw, is the greatest of all tales, the most beautiful of all art, the sweetest of all songs, and the most brilliant of all poetry. In short, I believe that the Three-in-One Mystery is the headwaters from which everything that is truly good comes. We’re all born thirsty, but praise be that we live downstream on the banks of living water.

Why “Wild Goose”?

Words hold the same power as the clear-eyed call of the wild goose. They pull us up and draw us out and send us deeper in. They sizzle like heat lightning across our dark skies, sing like a star caught by the crescent moon, and reassure like the steady pulse of the tugging tide. They shake us and wake us and, often, splash cold water across the numbness of our normalcy. Best of all, they throw open the doors of our souls and let in the wide, wild world—a world brimming with beauty, bedrocked on truth, and threaded through with a goodness we can’t deny. You see, the best words aren’t a destination in themselves. They’re simply the invitation to the journey.

And the journey? It starts at these headwaters called here and now. It starts when we stare at the swirling stars or spin in winter’s first snowfall, catch rainbows washing through a summer shower or listen to the forest’s slow green secrets. It starts when we turn weather-eyes to the horizon of our days and believe in the echoing eternal just out of sight. It starts when we give voice to the more that comes from beyond—the deep joy that leads like a lodestone, the deep hope that shimmers like the auroras, the deep longing that spins like a compass needle and points us back to true north.

My Irish ancestors had a name for the Eternal Spirit that ordered their days—An-Geadh-Glas, the Wild Goose. Like a wild goose, the Celts explained, the Spirit operates in a realm outside of everyday life. He is mysterious—His course is inexplicable. He is unpredictable—a God of dazzling adventure. And most importantly, He is uncontrollable—an entity that cannot be manipulated, captured, or tamed, only pursued.

I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of God I want to follow.

So, come with me? Let’s explore this world that’s bigger than we expected and wilder than we hoped and ringing with more risk—but more glory—than we ever imagined. Let’s spark wonder like a candle and set it flaming in the shadows.

Let’s chase the Wild Goose.

Thank you for being here, friends!

“Wild Goose of the Almighty,

Be my eye in the dark places;

Be my flight in the trapped places;

Be my host in the wild places;

Be my brood in the barren places;

Be my formation in the lost places.”

— Ray Simpson, author and monastic leader of the Celtic Lindisfarne community