Lost in the Forest
Once I took my older children camping in Kentucky. We decided to go hiking so we drove to the trail head of a popular path at Greenbow Lake. We had a few snacks, some bottled water, and off we went.
I am not sure what happened but we ended up on a dirt road. We could not find the path we had just left, we could not find a marked path to go forward on. There were very few occupied houses. Finally I knocked on a door. I was told to just cut through the cemetery, cross the ridge and I would be back at the campground. We walked to the cemetery and I looked at how high the ridge was. There were no marked paths. We were nearly out of water. No one knew where we were. We weren't expected home for two more days, so no one would even look for us right away.
I looked at my two small boys, walked back to the house and asked the man if he could give us a ride back. He looked doubtfully at his old truck, with no license, a busted windshield, and said he didn't know if it would start. I dug the very last of my money out of my pocket and asked him if it would start for fifty dollars.
It was the most frightening experience of my life. I have never strayed from hiking well marked trails, never gone off without someone knowing where I was and when I would return, and taken extra water. I learned a lesson.
I have been on another type of journey. A spiritual journey. Spiritual Pilgrimages are journeys taken in search of moral significance. Sometimes they can entail a physical separation from worldliness. Sometimes they may be of the metaphysical sort.
There have been some pretty famous ones. In Chaucer's Canterbury tales a group of thirty travelers are going to visit the relics at the Shrine of St. Thomas Beckett at Canterbury. It was mostly taken as an excuse to abandon work and have a vacation. Mostly just some random travelers thrown together.
In the allegorical tale Pilgrims Progress, Bunyan narrates the tale of Christian, who travels from his hometown of City of Destruction trying to reach Celestial City. He meets many along the road who try to waylay him, such as Sloth and Hypocrisy. He travels through areas that are hard to walk through like the Slough of Despond.
The Mayflower Pilgrims (this name was given to them much later) were in part, looking for religious freedom.
Perhaps the best know pilgrimage is that to Mecca. It is held each year and every adult Muslim is expected to make this trip at least once in their life.
If only our spiritual journeys were more clearly marked. A physical journey, putting one foot in front of another would seem to be easier than this lifetime of transformation. My journey has included stepping backwards, getting side tracked to other paths, getting lost, stumbling, tripping others, stopping and standing still. More of all of those than forward steps, I am afraid.
Now, after nearly six decades, I discovered the Compass I could have used more efficiently, the Guide who was willing to take my hand and lead me, the lighted path I could have trod. I have donned a new pair of hiking boots, I am reading my Compass, reaching my hand out to my Guide and trying to take straight steps on the path.
I hope I will never get lost in the forest again.
I am not sure what happened but we ended up on a dirt road. We could not find the path we had just left, we could not find a marked path to go forward on. There were very few occupied houses. Finally I knocked on a door. I was told to just cut through the cemetery, cross the ridge and I would be back at the campground. We walked to the cemetery and I looked at how high the ridge was. There were no marked paths. We were nearly out of water. No one knew where we were. We weren't expected home for two more days, so no one would even look for us right away.
I looked at my two small boys, walked back to the house and asked the man if he could give us a ride back. He looked doubtfully at his old truck, with no license, a busted windshield, and said he didn't know if it would start. I dug the very last of my money out of my pocket and asked him if it would start for fifty dollars.
It was the most frightening experience of my life. I have never strayed from hiking well marked trails, never gone off without someone knowing where I was and when I would return, and taken extra water. I learned a lesson.
I have been on another type of journey. A spiritual journey. Spiritual Pilgrimages are journeys taken in search of moral significance. Sometimes they can entail a physical separation from worldliness. Sometimes they may be of the metaphysical sort.
There have been some pretty famous ones. In Chaucer's Canterbury tales a group of thirty travelers are going to visit the relics at the Shrine of St. Thomas Beckett at Canterbury. It was mostly taken as an excuse to abandon work and have a vacation. Mostly just some random travelers thrown together.
In the allegorical tale Pilgrims Progress, Bunyan narrates the tale of Christian, who travels from his hometown of City of Destruction trying to reach Celestial City. He meets many along the road who try to waylay him, such as Sloth and Hypocrisy. He travels through areas that are hard to walk through like the Slough of Despond.
The Mayflower Pilgrims (this name was given to them much later) were in part, looking for religious freedom.
Perhaps the best know pilgrimage is that to Mecca. It is held each year and every adult Muslim is expected to make this trip at least once in their life.
If only our spiritual journeys were more clearly marked. A physical journey, putting one foot in front of another would seem to be easier than this lifetime of transformation. My journey has included stepping backwards, getting side tracked to other paths, getting lost, stumbling, tripping others, stopping and standing still. More of all of those than forward steps, I am afraid.
Now, after nearly six decades, I discovered the Compass I could have used more efficiently, the Guide who was willing to take my hand and lead me, the lighted path I could have trod. I have donned a new pair of hiking boots, I am reading my Compass, reaching my hand out to my Guide and trying to take straight steps on the path.
I hope I will never get lost in the forest again.
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