Gager reflects on life outdoors

Religion professor emeritus John Gager reflected on the relationship between nature and spirituality last night.

About 30 people, mainly students, weathered the rain to attend Gager's talk at Murray-Dodge, entitled "Spirituality & the Outdoors." It was the second event in the Outdoor Spirituality program cosponsored by Outdoor Action and the Office of Religious Life to promote student interaction with the natural world and reflection on those experiences.

Outdoor Action director Rick Curtis '79 lightheartedly introduced the speaker.

"This is a weekly meeting of the John Gager fanclub," Curtis said, noting that Gager is an avid outdoorsman, hiker, skier and rock-climber.

Gager, who retired last spring after teaching at the University for 28 years, sat in an armchair with crutches by his side. His right leg was encased in a splint from undergoing artificial knee surgery.

Gager began the talk by addressing his new handicap, which will prevent him for climbing.

"My first reaction was to feel sorry for myself, to whine," he said. But then it led him to "considerable reflection" on what climbing meant to him, and on how he would define spirituality.

Spirituality, Gager said, is not institutional, does not require instruction, is not theocentric or doctrinal and is individual and not communal.

"Spirituality for me involves a sense of being lifted up. You're lifted up above your normal state of being, your normal consciousness," he said.

For Gager, spirituality is linked directly to rock climbing.

"Part of rock climbing is experiencing the purely physiological state of elation and wellbeing," he said. "It is being in an elevated position with a well-defined horizon in front of you."

"It's the toughness, the challenge, the difficulty to get there," he added.