"The wilderness is not where your faith goes to die, but where it finally learns to breathe."
Most of us inherited a faith we didn't build-a structure of rigid rules, exhausting performance, and brittle certainty. But what happens when the roof caves in? What happens when the "Empire of Force" demands a version of you that you can no longer provide?
Wilderness & Wonder is not a book about trying harder. It is a 40-day Lenten survival guide for the spiritually displaced, the tired, and those standing in religious wreckage. Through honest, gritty, and trauma-aware reflections, Gregory Simpson invites you to leave behind the "God of the Ledger" and meet the God who is actually there.
Is this book for you? This journey is designed for those who:
- Feel "homeless" within their own religious traditions.
- Are navigating the messy middle of spiritual deconstruction.
- Crave a faith transition that values questions more than easy answers.
- Are exhausted by the "Empire of Performance" and seek mortal relief.
- Desire a spirituality rooted in liberation theology and social justice.
Following a weekly arc of transformation, this guide offers a path through:
- Breaking the Addiction to Performance: Moving from adrenaline to grace.
- Dismantling Systems: Confronting the toxic "Bouncers of Belonging."
- Economic Irrationality: Discovering a Kingdom built on wonder and plenty.
- Embodied Resistance: Moving from beautiful ideas to embodied action.
Warning: This journey includes friction. It will ask you to drop your mask, fire the bouncers in your head, and look at the things you are terrified to see. But you will not go alone. Through forty days of daily Lenten reflections, you will discover that the wilderness is not a place of abandonment, but the space where you finally become free.
About the Author Gregory Simpson is a minister and former software developer who lives at the intersection of ancient faith and modern wreckage. Currently serving in Chatham, Ontario, he provides a voice of flinchless grace for those wandering outside the gates of traditional certainty.
Gregory Simpson is a minister, storyteller, and former software developer who lives at the intersection of ancient faith and modern wreckage. After a successful first career in computer science and online applications, Gregory followed a "cosmic nudge" in his mid-30s that led him away from the logic of code and into the messy, beautiful reality of pastoral ministry.Currently serving St. Andrew's United Church in Chatham, Ontario, Gregory's work is rooted in radical compassion and the belief that stories-not just dogmas-are what hold us together. He is a voice for the "spiritually displaced," offering grace that doesn't flinch to those who have found traditional religious structures too small for their lives. Whether he is standing in a pulpit, writing a novel in a caffeine-fueled blur, or sharing daily devotionals online, Gregory is dedicated to helping people trade the "Empire of Performance" for the relief of being human.A husband to a dance teacher and a father of three, he is a lifelong student of truth and a firm believer that the wilderness is where faith finally learns to breathe. You can find his reflections, audio readings, and more at gregorysimpson.ca.
