I have been hiking a lot more recently on various trails; Squaw Peak, Camelback, Pinnacle Peak, Gateway trail and enjoying it immensely with this beautiful Arizona Fall weather! While hiking Pinnacle Peak the other day the thought came to me that hiking is a lot like our walk on our own spiritual path through this life.
We start out eager on this path, excited to take in the sites, sounds, smells of what lies ahead of us. We wonder what animals we may encounter, what the changing scenery will look like, and know how invigorated we will feel breathing in the fresh air. As our feet begin to walk upon the path sometimes there are rocks that make us feel as if we are walking on marbles, unsteady and unstable – it gets bumpy, we may even slip or fall. As we get up and dust ourselves off, we persevere and the path starts to smooth out with soft dirt so we once again feel stable and steady on our feet.
The higher and higher we climb the path, it can feel like a big feat – we may even want to turn back and not press on in the face of adversity or exhaustion and even ask ourselves, do I really want to do this? With each and every step, climbing higher and getting a better view we think wow, I am almost there…..I can see the top, I have arrived! This notion of “having arrived” fades quickly as we look up ahead and see the next summit in the distance. We pause and survey all that has brought us to this beautiful moment. Somehow everything has changed but has also stayed the same.
We start out again and with each twist and turn of the path, we trust it to take us where we need to go knowing we will arrive. We may have some bruises, bumps, scraps, and blisters but we know this is all part of this path – this Spiritual Path we have so courageously decided to walk upon.