The Kind of Beauty and Wisdom We Need in Our Feeds

There’s this priest on Instagram who calls himself the “Nomadic Monk,” and we’ve fallen in love with his posts, which combine stunning mountain viewpoints with poetic inspiration and insights for seekers. Seriously — we all need this kind of beauty and wisdom in our feeds right now. 

Father Nathan Sparks, SJ, describes himself as an adventurer and spiritual writer. He teaches Latin and Greek at a Catholic high school in Boston, but actually visits the places where those languages once lived. He studied at the Vatican for four years and has traveled across Europe, the U.S., the Holy Land, South America, and Asia. “I have also traveled extensively inside of libraries,” he writes, “where it is far easier to get lost than in any other place in the world.”

The wisdom he shares in his posts are just as rich and compelling as the visuals he captures in his travel. Because he’s studied the ancients (with degrees in philosophy, theology, and ancient Greek), he has the long-view in mind. He’s swimming in the deep currents of life, and his writing about love and longing and searching for meaning transcend the typical self-help and you-can-do-it advice that’s so common on social media. 

His posts have a way of putting into perspective not only the circumstances of life we may be facing at the moment, but where we are ultimately going. He has a way of drawing everything back to things of lasting meaning: love, hope, and faith. “I am on a journey into realms of deeper engagement with life, spiritual transformation, and pursuit of wisdom, knowledge, and faith,” he writes. “I look for and find God everywhere, and my Catholic faith is an intrepid little ship for this journey.”