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“Why do I need church? I find God in nature.”

Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve even said it yourself. And hey - I get it. I live in Colorado. I love nature. There’s something about standing on a mountaintop that just hits differently. The beauty. The silence. The awe. It stirs your soul. But if we stop there, we’re missing the best part.

In this episode, I sat down with my friend Fr. John Nepil—a priest, seminary professor, and the only person to ever celebrate Mass on the summit of all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. Yeah…he’s kind of a legend.

This episode isn’t just about mountaintop moments. It’s about the search for something we can hold on to—and the emptiness behind the adventures we seek when the destination isn’t God, and where He intended to be found. The partying, the psychotropic drugs, the adrenaline highs that so many partake in are all betraying a desperate hunger for something real, something eternal. This is a fascinating conversation that will rock you to the core.

We talked about everything from creation to confession, beauty to worldview, suffering to Eucharistic joy - and why the mountains, as incredible as they are, can’t give you what you’re really looking for.

Because the mountains don’t love you back. But Jesus does.
And He didn’t stay “up there.” He came down into the mess and mystery of your everyday life. He meets you not just in sunsets and silence, but in the Eucharist. That’s where the longing ends and the love begins.

This episode will challenge the lies we believe, reignite your sense of wonder, and help you see the world—and your faith—with new eyes.

Timestamps:
2:10 – Why “God is everywhere” isn’t enough
5:58 – Sleeping outside at 10,000 feet (without a sleeping bag!)
9:30 – The crisis of worldview
22:00 – His wild conversion story (yep, it involves drugs)
36:39 – Avocados and metaphysics
46:57 – What metanoia really means
56:14 – Almost struck by lightning on a 14er
1:02 – You’re not in creation. You are creation
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