Author Kurt Hoelting will present “The Practice of Homecoming: Harnessing the Power of Place To Build a More Resilient Community” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25 at the Chiropractic Zone Healing Center in Bayview.
In an effort to bridge the gap between his convictions about climate change and the size of his own carbon footprint, Hoelting gave up cars and jet travel in 2008 to spend a year exploring his home terrain in Puget Sound on foot, by bicycle and kayak. He wrote of his adventures in “The Circumference of Home: One Man’s Yearlong Quest for a Radically Local Life.”
Hoelting was ordained a United Church of Christ minister in 1978, and served as a campus minister for two years at the University of Oregon. He left the ministry in 1980 to embrace his other great love, commercial fishing in Southeast Alaska.
In 1994, Hoelting founded Inside Passages (www.insidepassages.com), a sea kayaking outfitter-guide business in Alaska that combines his love for wilderness exploration, forest conservation and contemplative practice. He has guided several dozen kayaking expeditions in Southeast Alaska, geared primarily to environmental and religious leaders, that incorporates Buddhist meditation practice and contemplative silence into the effort to build more sustainable leadership practices in response to the ecological challenges of our time.
He has co-led trips in Alaska with prominent authors, environmental leaders and contemplative teachers, including Gary Snyder, David Abram, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mark Coleman, Rabbi Rachel Cowan, and Rabbi Alan Lew.
Hoelting also leads contemplative retreats for activists and interfaith religious leaders around the United States, partnering with organizations like the Garrison Institute in New York, GreenFaith in New Jersey, and the Whidbey Institute in Puget Sound, of which he is a founding member.
He is also the co-producer with Dan Kowalski of the film “Deep Presence: Meditations on a Wild Coast,” and is currently working with Atlanta filmmaker Phil Walker and Professor Rebecca Gould of Middlebury College, on the production of a full-length documentary on ecology and religion. His essays are included in several books collections, including “On Nature: Great Writers On The Great Outdoors,” edited by Lee Gutkind, “Earth & Spirit: The Spiritual Dimension of the Environmental Crisis,” edited by Fritz Hull, and “EarthLight: Spiritual Wisdom for an Ecological Age,” published by Earthlight Magazine.
In the Transformational Dialogue tonight in Bayview, Hoelting will share stories, images and life lessons from his ongoing adventures in place-based living. Net proceeds benefit Whidbey Island Nourishes.
