In an increasingly urban world, the wilder, untouched places of the earth have an even greater impact on our soul. Roger W. Thompson, a remarkable entrepreneur and adventurer, expands on the spiritual side of our search for lost places.
“I think there’s something spiritual about the search in general. We’re out there seeking something because we thought, maybe, there’s something missing. And that’s a spiritual exploration I believe.”
“I got this idea from C.S. Lewis originally – we’re not quite made for this world, and we’re sort of constantly seeking something out. He said it much more eloquently.”
“We will never fully be satisfied here. We’re always kind of looking for these mountain settings and these beautiful places because, I believe, these are little glimpses of heaven. An unfiltered look at creation from the Creator.”
Roger has set out on memorable journeys with his wife, his whole family and his friends. But he’s taken many of these adventures with his sons. He says that these treks have helped bring into focus what his job really is as a parent.
“So we were in Paradise Valley, Montana, and we were going on this river rafting trip. My instinct as a parent was to either not do it, or do it in such a way that I was overprotective of the boys and that there was no chance at all that they were going to fall out the boat or experience any danger.”
“Actually my son did fall out of the boat in a class three rapid, and he got back in and went through the whole process. He learned more from that – he was walking two feet taller by the time we got to shore – because he had experienced something. For the rest of the trip, he had a sense of confidence about who he was that he would never would have gotten if I would have strapped him down to the boat and made sure there was no way he was going to fall out.”
“Sometimes it’s more important that those things happen than to overprotect them.”
Roger W. Thompson is a successful entrepreneur and adventurer. He set out on a series of journeys to find freedom from the mundane, to encounter God in nature, and to know himself more deeply as a father and a husband. The result is a book of essays, spiritual reflections, and often hilarious stories, stemming from his many years of expeditions throughout the American West.
On the Road with Roger W. Thompson
