My Thoughts on "The Clearing in the Woods"

The Clearing in the Woods is a short story in Part 1 page 17 of Landscapes of the Sacred, where the author recounts a time he entered into the woods with the goal of finding God in nature. I really enjoyed this story because I think it gets at a question that I have been thinking about since the start of the semester. The question is, "Can you force yourself to have a religious experience, or does it have to happen naturally?" In the story the narrator doesn't find god until he gives up on looking, and begins to head home. While on his way home, he decided to stop in a small clearing in the woods. He ended up waiting there for a while until a young doe emerged from out of forest. It only stayed there for a moment before taking off, but this encounter brought a feeling of connection and calmness to the writer. The writer goes on to state that you must first become lost before you can find what you are looking for. This does not mean as I first thought that it is pointless to go out looking for a meaningful or religious experience, because if he had not gone out looking in the first place he would have never found the clearing. It shows that sometimes it takes you making the initial effort to show you the true path of your goal. At least for now I am satisfied with that answer, even if I still don't fully under stand it. I like this story not just because I find it helpful in answering my question, but also because I can relate to the connection felt when you see an animal in the wild.