LESSONS FROM THE TRAIL - PART 1

My brother Thom and I have decided to re-trace the steps of our Camino pilgrimage from 2011.  We're not going to travel back to Spain - we're going to walk the same distance of 800+ kms right here in our own "backyard", so to speak.  Our plan is to hike about 20 kilometers a day along the trails and back roads around our home; we'll take an occasional day off to recover (and for me to work in Milton) and we hope to finish the distance by Thanksgiving.

To prepare for this physical challenge, Thom and I have been walking regularly in the early morning.  We've been testing out various routes and loops so that we have a variety of scenery to occupy our time on the trail.  Unlike the Camino experience when the terrain changed daily, our pseudo-Camino in North Sydenham will feature a fair amount of retracing of steps along familiar roads.

One thing that will not change from the Camino will be the opportunity to learn lessons while on the trail.  It is a bonus of long distance hiking to have the opportunity to observe and think about what you are experiencing.  In the preparatory stage of the last two weeks, I have already noted several "lessons from the trail" that I think are noteworthy - or, they seemed that way at the time.

Last Saturday, we walked the rail trail from Shallow Lake to the Owen Sound marina - a jaunt of about 13.5 kms.  The moment we stepped out to begin the trek, the skies opened and a deluge of biblical proportions followed us for the first half the journey.  We were quickly soaked from head to toes and I learned two new lessons.  Lesson # 1 - if you are wearing water-proof boots, but it's raining so hard the water is running down your legs, your boots will quickly fill up and stay full of water...because they are water-proof.  An advantage can quickly turn into a disadvantage on the trail.  Lesson # 2 - insect repellent applied before the deluge quickly got washed away once the downpour started.  If the hard rain keeps up, it will act as a natural repellent and most biting insects will stay away.  A disadvantage can quickly turn into an advantage during a long hike.

I don't understand why, but long distance hikes have the capacity to make life simple and obvious; it must have something to do with our mind and body getting in sync with each other while we are covering the distance.  I think that is one of the attractions of being on the trail; who doesn't wish for a simpler life?

 May your ups outnumber your downs.

Pat

Take This Thought Away With You

"You are now free to pursue learning that doesn't take a linear path,

that meanders, that finds joy in the unexpected"

~ Carol Barnier ~

FEROCIOUS STRUGGLES OF LIFE

A lot of my reading this summer has been philosophical contemplative in nature.  Various authors and thinkers have drawn me back to consideration of the age-old questions that human kind have puzzled over for millennia.  One of those is the question of fate: is the general course of our life charted out for us ahead of time?  Is the assumption that human beings ultimately exercise free will in the direction of their living really only a myth?  I can hear you now..."Pat, why do you think this matters and why are you writing about it?"

Let me explain.  A book I've just finished contains a passage by an author that goes, "Life leads us to where we should be, despite our ferocious struggles against it."  When I first read that line, I thought that was a finely crafted phrase that sums up the human experience.  On second thought, I considered the implications of that statement, essentially a negation of the role my choices and actions have in the quality of my living.  Yikes!!!  it might be a nice turn of phrase, but I don't agree with it.

I think that the elements of human life that are 'fateful' are our birth and our death; everything else in between is a combination of never-ending choices and outcomes.  I think humans were made for the 'ferocious struggle'  that is life, the constant effort for good to prevail over evil, for hope to win out when fear would take over. 

Being "made in God's image" (Genesis 1:27) has more to do with how we should live than what shape our bodies might take.  I think that to live a good life, the struggle matters - whether it is bitter or sweet; to have heaven on earth, our personal choices and actions matter.  The truth of that is evident in the world around us if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

May we be awake and ready for the ferocious struggles of life.

Pat

TAKE THIS THOUGHT AWAY WITH YOU

"No one ever finds life worth living - one has to make it worth living"

THE COMMUNITY THAT YOU FIND...OR THAT FIND YOU!

I helped out at the OSHaRE soup kitchen on Wednesday evening because they were short-handed for volunteers.  I did my usual duty there - dishwashing.  It's a chore I take a bit of pleasure in...I enjoy the rhythm and flow of washing dishes - there's something soothing in it.

As I was finishing up the last couple of loads for the dishwasher, I found two plastic glasses amongst the 80-some-odd coffee mugs that are used by the adult guests at OSHaRE.  The glasses had a name printed and some images drawn on them in permanent marker, obviously the work of children.  It stopped me dead in my tracks for a moment or two; I didn't know whether to put them through the washer or throw them out.  In the end, I washed them for reuse and I'm glad I did.  You see, there's a story in those two glasses.

More and more often, there are families showing up to eat supper at OSHaRE.  One family in particular is made up of three generations.  The children are in the age range from highchair to JK to Grade 1 or 2, by my estimate.  Having children at OSHaRE has changed things somewhat: juice boxes, smaller portions, a bowl instead of a plate, spoon instead of fork, and special requests for peanut butter and jam sandwiches.  It's a shock at first to know that the face of poverty and food insecurity includes kids, but that's reality.

Over time, OSHaRE has become part of those children's routine, where they sit at the same table each night; they know they will find their familiar drinking glasses waiting them and that they will eat supper with their family, surrounded by dozens of others, engulfed in the noisy (at times deafening) chatter of greeting and acquaintance.

The two personalized glasses that I washed are a signal of connection and community by two children, and like it or not, that community is a soup kitchen.  It might not be the community that they (or you or I) would choose, but it's the community that they have and they are making the best of it.  It's a good thing that human beings are resilient - children most of all.

Community is as important to us as food and water - body and soul must both be fed.  I hope those children, that family and all the OSHaRE guests continue to find connections that sustain them.

Pat

Take This Thought Away With You

People crave comfort, people crave connection, people crave community.

~ Marianne Williamson ~

AROUND THE FIRE

I have to thank Marilyn Messerschmidt for the photos she took of the summer campfire gathering at my home last Sunday evening.  You may not know it, but Marilyn is often the one who captures and the records many of the events that make up our life together as a community of faith.  We have hundreds of her images on posters and in articles dating back many years.  Thanks, Marilyn.

As far as pictures go, this one isn't extraordinary.  Honestly, a bunch of people sitting around a fire in someone's backyard.  Big deal.  Not that much going on, you might say - but, this is one instance where a picture is not worth a thousand words. 

There is 3/4 of a circle of friends not shown; there were hotdogs and marshmallows being roasted, watermelon  and salad being dished out; there were conversations and stories being shared; there were people at the shoreline watching the sun set; there were people swimming and wading in the bay; there was a round of campfire songs led by Gerry and Anne; and, there were all the invisible forms of community and fellowship being experienced as only they can be around an open fire.

I don't want to blow the campfire experience out of proportion...but, there's something very special about gathering with your friends around a fire.  People around the world from aeons past have been drawn to fire to cook, for warmth, to fend off danger and darkness, to entertain, to ponder and to gather in community - it's one thing that bridges ethnicity and culture. 

Much has changed in 10,000 years, but not these things.  As long as we've been walking this earth, we have been gathering around the fire, telling stories and singing songs.

Pat