A Place in the Forest

Richard Hollerman

Elsewhere we have discussed the pros and cons of living in the woods. We are writing about the forest or woods, where some might resort to in order to find proverbial “peace and quiet.” Yes, in some respects this would be nice and we would want it. I have written about it in the past couple of years. This may be something that you would want to check out for yourself.

On the other hand, more recently we have placed installments about the woods or forests on the website (www.Truediscipleship.com) and also Facebook, that would show some drawbacks to this sort of living and this kind of arrangement. In fact, they would be serious and sobering negatives to this and we hope that you will consult this for yourself.

I have in my possession a couple books regarding the benefits of living in a cabin in the woods. And these are very picturesque and informative books. As I mentioned, also, in a recent post, although I did subscribe many years ago to a monthly publications that would encourage such living and even more recently I have a monthly subscription to a way to live and work in the wilderness. But there are many negatives to this as well.

The “negatives,” you may ask, are as follows. I have spelled this out in a previous post, but we think of the following: it would be quite expensive to carry this out. We are speaking not of one million or three million, but much more. Further, either we would need to do this ourselves (which might prove to be nearly impossible), or we would need to hire another or others to do this—and this gets back to the financial aspect again. If we were to find another to do this with us, there would be huge problems, as you might imagine. Further, although this may be feasible, if one had enough money and area, we wonder about the weather. This could be formidable, to say the least. I don’t know if you can handle the cold weather or the hot weather.

The books in my possession seem to say that many of these “cabins” would be in the North-east, the North-west, the North, or like places. How can this be done? Further, and this is perhaps the greatest factor, what about Matthew 28:18-20 and similar passages? How are we to meet and reach the lost if we were to do this? Of course, we do wonder about such passages as Hebrews 3:13 and Hebrews 10:23-25 and the like. In other words, how do we find and meet with those of a common faith if were to be far, far from others?

Along with this, we wonder about the matter of age. If we were to retire at age 65 and then need to move back to “civilization” at age 75, what about this 10-year period? And then there would be the matter of hospitalization, health-care, doctors, and medical care. How can this be when one is 30 or 500 miles away, in the woods or forest? We do wonder about all of this.

We further wonder about the safety of all of this. If one were to move to a deserted area, perhaps alone, or with a wife, or with a family, we do wonder about the safety that we would have. If one were five or ten or twenty miles from the closest store and closest medical establishment and institution of some kind, and if one were to have an emergency, what then? Further, if one were to have a cell phone, what if it didn’t work?

Yes, I must admit that something in me appeals to this kind of living. Surrounded by wildlife, by vegetation, by trees, by land, and by birds—all of this does appeal to me but the “wild” part that does not go away.
God does say to go into all of the world (cf. Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; etc.), and we might wonder if the deserted places in Washington, in Vermont, or in Minnesota, might qualify. But how? It would seem that we might need to “bend” Scripture or “twist” the Word of God and the commands of Jesus to find such a location.

If were to “last” until age 70 or 75 or older, how could this be carried out? Would such a place and such a cabin require servicing, or working, or adding, or repairs, or we were to need other aspects of this, how can this be done? If we needed to go to a home servicing place, or a hardware store, or a clothing place, or a food place, how can this be carried out? And if a car or truck (probably two) that cost 10 or 20 or 50 thousand dollars, and one didn’t know how to work on such a vehicle, then where would we go and what would be do?

All of this seems to present insurmountable obstacles to such an undertaking. Yes, it would be nice in a way, but would it really work? The books that I mentioned do have many desirable aspects, but would it really work? And could the Christian carry this out, legally and feasibly?

It seems that they answer would be No in many respects. What do you think? I know that some of you reading these words might think that it could be done and one’s conscience would still be intact, but how? And remember that we don’t know how long we will live—perhaps 65 or 70 or 75 or 80 years. And then what?