I have acquired the Via Alpina Sacra which is a visual companion to the Travel Diary of Johannes M. Schwarz.
The Pilgrimage (page 4)
The Via Alpina Sacra was a personal project realized between May 15 and September 16, 2018. The route covered 2700 miles with enough elevation gain to hike half way up to the International Space Station.
The wilderness of the Alps was never viewed as a “holy district” by people of such a faith. Rather its valleys, canyons, slopes and peaks were both a refuge and a “spiritual battle ground”. Hermits and monks came to escape the world, fight vice with virtue, temptations with prayer……. Learning turned into books; books into libraries- among them the largest monastic library in the world.
The Pilgrimage (page 5)
Fr. Johannes Maria Schwarz (b.1978) initially focused his education on fine arts and drama in Sidney Australia, but was soon drawn to more fundamental questions. He began studying theology at the International Theological Institute (Austria); earned his Licentiate- and Doctorate at the Facolta di Teologia di Lugano (Switzerland). He was ordained to the priesthood in 2004.
Needless to say Johannes is an avid solo hiker and has walked 25000 miles in nature. From the pictures here and in videos of a few of his treks I have seen, it appears he walks in sandals. ( Albeit, well constructed sandals!) His constant companion is his camera and drone. His photographic composition is remarkable, the Alps his beautiful model. As I noted above, the Via Alpina Sacra is his companion to his Travel Diary. There are 450 photographs in this book. I am amazed that with so many clicks of his camera, no two are alike. What a diversity of subject matter so many thousands of meters in altitude up and down the spine of the European Alps. Fr. Johannes has renovated and currently lives a hermitage in the Italian Alps.
Father Johannes reads his bible, (as one could imagine), more often than I can turn pages of a novel in a day. This month of December 2025, his example inspired me to dust off and reopen my copy of Science of Being, by Eugene Fersen published in 1923. Fr. Johanne’s faith of course is self evident and Fersen’s thesis describing God, the One Source, or Principle always helps me build stronger scaffolding around the bulk-work of my growing faith. Allow me to share the following from page 34, Science of Being.
Now the question may be asked why are there five words which scientifically define the word Principal and not six or four or seven? Why does the Great Principal express it self in the four aspects of Life, Mind, Truth and Love, culminating in the fifth aspect, Spirit? Why are there five Statements of Being and not a lesser or greater number? Because we are living now in the Fifth Period of Humanity’s evolution, represented allegorically in the Bible as the Fifth Day of Creation.
Hmm, the number five continually expressed throughout: We have five senses, five extremities, five fingers. What happens to us, to humanity, when we reach the end of the Sixth Period of Evolution? If I follow the Bible’s next allegorical step, the Sixth Day is the day Divinity created Man. Excuse me Mr. Fersen, I and my fellow humans have been walking this Earth for millennia! As you postulate we are in the 5th period of evolution. Wait a moment, am I to understand that as a human being I will not be fully self aware until I personalize the triune? Mr. Fersen you outline on page 35 that our greatness will only be reached, passing all current understanding, when the task of our self development is comfortable with the fact that the divine spirit lives in each and every one of us. That self development and self awareness is the IMMEDIATE AND MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM OF HUMANITY.
Fr. Johannes Schwarz shares philosophical thoughts, questions and insights wrapped in his faith. Eugene Fersen shared his philosophical thoughts and insights wrapped in what he outlined as scientifically empirical examples of logical assurance that our faith is not misguided.
I found on line an article written by one Jim Denison PhD that was a copy of Dr. Yandall Woodfin’s memorial service eulogy he gave in 2014. I believe Dr. Denison was a student of the late Dr. Woodfin. His influence in the classroom inspired Jim Denison to major in philosophy as it pertains to religion. He begins by using the quote attributed to philosopher Alfred North Whitehead; great people plant trees they’ll never sit under. I am one such tree. One point of his memorial eulogy Dr. Denison asks a question that I ponder in a reflective nod at my lighthouse. Why Death? He points out in Corinthians 15 Paul’s answer in his epistle. I tell you this brother’s, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable (v. 50). Jim Denison continues in his eulogy: If we would enter God’s kingdom, we must leave our diseased, fallen flesh and blood behind. If we would step into the imperishable,, we must leave the perishable. To step into the house we must leave the car. Denison cites examples of Jesus proclaiming life after death in John 11:26, John 14:1-4, and Luke 23:43. God permits death as the gateway to life.
This month my reflections coincide with the last day of the year. Reaching my lighthouse, I am happy my old car made it through the last twelve months. I remember my repeated refrain at the end of a year as the clock strikes 11:59 pm. “What a year!” For as long as I can remember I always hope this new year can not be so bad, dramatic, traumatic as last year! So I close my eyes and smell the sea breeze carrying my blessings our family car has shared this past year on this road we sometimes call life. I thank my wife for her gift of unconditional love. Her personal strength to use positivity to share another dawn with me. I thank our children, our sons and daughters-in -law, our eleven grandchildren who share our blessings we find in art, sports, chess, reading, or a Patriot’s win, along with fishing and story telling. I am blessed to have my extended family and my wife’s family in our life. Their constant support and their time afforded us as we age while walking the path with our aging issues. We are blessed to have the snapshots of our friends we met as we began this journey eight decades ago. . (Technology and social media has become an answer to the postcards I used to send.) So as I turn away from another year where the news was not always comfortable I say, with gusto, to you, Happy New Year!
Thank you for reading!
Be at peace and joy!
Mark