I have finished reading Colin Heber‑Percy’s 'Lost in the Forest'. A gentle and absorbing read. I was struck by how astutely he writes about the idea of not belonging. He confesses to early experiences of feeling out of place, for example, at school and indeed in early experiences of training for pastoral life.
It is an unusual theme for a parish priest, a role normally associated with being at the centre of a community. Yet Heber‑Percy focuses on the moments when we feel out of place. At school - a particularly common experience in childhood and adolescence - at work, or within institutions that expect quick conformity. I recognised these moments immediately; they are familiar to anyone who has stepped into a new environment and felt the pressure to adapt before really getting g any kind of grip about what is being asked.
Heber‑Percy argues that stepping outside the labels and categories society applies is valuable. He writes with humour and a certain self‑deprecation about his own difficult school years and his sometimes uneasy experiences within the Church. These examples are illustrations of how belonging can be demanded too quickly, and how that demand can narrow a person’s sense of themselves.
The book is organised around his regular walks in Savernake Forest, each chapter centred on one of the large oaks to be found there. The trees are given names and which define their characteristics, each characteristic driving the narrative. I found this structure interesting because it quietly contradicts his argument for the benefits of disorder. The framework gives the book shape and direction, and this tension — between structure and freedom — runs throughout. It reminded me constantly of the adage that freedom is easier to understand when there is 'something to be free from'. Heber‑Percy also acknowledges that freedom without boundaries can slip into chaos, as shown in his very funny description of a pond full of mating frogs.
Of course, Heber-Percy’s Christian faith is in evidence but there is no sense of didacticism or preaching. Biblical quotations site neatly among quotations from philosophy, literature and even Steve Jobs....
The nature writing echoes writers such as Robert McFarlane. Pussy willows are glimpsed as “smudges of green through the stiff arcades of beeches and chestnuts and oaks”; he stops to listen to the “dense polyrhythm of falling conkers, acorns and beech nuts”.
We meet some fascinating characters along the way too: John the bellow maker who writes words – about the first cuckoo, perhaps, – on the inside of the bellow’s wooden boards, words that will never be seen again. There is much lyricism here.
Meantime, his reflections made me think about traditions that place a high value on order. Confucian thought, for example, emphasises structure, ritual and social harmony. In that tradition, belonging is learned gradually through shared forms. These forms are meant to guide behaviour and create stability, not to suppress individuality. When I set Heber‑Percy’s ideas alongside this, I find that both approaches recognise that people need orientation; they simply begin from different places. Heber‑Percy starts with looking away and stepping outside established norms, while Confucius starts with slowly adopting the best of them.
For me, the middle way lies in acknowledging that both freedom and order have their uses. Belonging should not be regimented or imposed, but neither should freedom be directionless.