More Than a Backpacking Trip

After pulling the red and black laces of my hiking boots tight, I stood, slipped on my backpack and continued up the rocky path.  The day had started so differently.  Our group had broken camp and started out together, but in a relatively short time we had drifted apart as each person set their own pace.  Alone on the mountain trail I had enjoyed the sun’s rays exploding through openings in the trees and the birds creating a nature symphony in surround sound.  The day was alive and peaceful.  At one point a woodpecker hammered away on a distant tree.   Intrigued I listened intently until the last strains of hammering faded away.  There was so much to appreciate out here in the wilderness. 

Now the path had turned rocky and difficult.  With each step my foot slipped to find a firm landing, ankles stiffened to keep from turning and my feet throbbed in protest.  By mid-afternoon with the sun at its strongest the hike had turned into nothing more than plodding drudgery with no end sight.  Weariness set in.

Then without notice the trail turned away from the rocks, and the forest opened up into an unexpected clearing with a panoramic view.  Off in the distance another mountain range rose up majestically into the clouds.  The valleys carved it up in ways that caused the shadows to give it an ever-changing personality.  I stood quiet and thoughtful for long time as I soaked it in.  After seeing nothing but trees for days, this panoramic perspective was both overwhelming and refreshing.  I determined in that moment that every step of the journey had been worth it all.   

I have come to liken my own personal spiritual journey to this backpacking trip into the mountains.  On occasion I too break into an unexpected clearing and get a breathtaking view of reality from an eternal perspective.  From this viewpoint I can see clearly God’s true majestic nature, and/or I see more clearly the inner workings of my own heart.  Either way my understanding of the robust life in the gospel is enhanced, and I continue down the path of life changed from the inside out. 

Of course, the majority of any backpacking trip is not spent at the summit or even at a panoramic clearing but on the upward winding trail surrounded by forest.  While a clear view may be obstructed there remains so much to enjoy and appreciate – a massive oak, squirrels scampering, a refreshing waterfall, a peek at distant mountains, cool shade, wind in the trees, blackberries, wildflowers and wildlife.  The enjoyable is experienced right along with the difficult and challenging – a rocky path, a thunder storm that rolls in, sweltering days, a slippery crossing, poison ivy and a downpour. 

 

So too it is with life.  There are the aha moments at the clearing, but most of life is spent on the path of the ordinary and every day.  In the daily we live out our discovered insights while learning to appreciate God’s small simple gifts.  We face difficulties and learn to trust Him in the uncertainty.  We push toward the summit in anticipation of what is to come.