So many choices!Hiking in the Sierras is amazing.
In back of our cabin a slight granite ridge begins a public trail marked by occasional orange paint dots.
Beyond this ridge, little gray mini-cliffs rise helter-skelter above one another. A stream from somewhere above gurgles through the undergrowth as gravity urges it towards the lake. Aspen leaves quake in the breeze.
I soon learn, at least on this rocky ridge, that stopping to admire nature can be perilous. The narrow path drops too steeply on either side. To safely pause for scenery, first plant your feet firmly, then look around.
That’s not a bad motto for life either: Plant your feet firmly before looking around. How many times have we seen people looking left or right, or even back over their shoulder as they continue walking forward – right into a person, a post, or a tree?
Solid rock is a good place to stand while getting our bearings. It doesn’t shift, provides good footing, and offers a place from which to determine the next stage of our journey.
Let’s take the metaphor a little further. If that rock is Christ, the true idea of God, it supports every honest and unselfish desire as it breaks free of the undergrowth and tangles of selfish thinking. It provides a view of the future with so many possibilities, we scarcely know which path to follow.
Christ also speaks to us in ways we can understand, answering honest questions about life, helping us make wise and unselfish decisions. The path we take with Christ probably won't follow reassuring orange dots.
In back of our cabin a slight granite ridge begins a public trail marked by occasional orange paint dots.
Beyond this ridge, little gray mini-cliffs rise helter-skelter above one another. A stream from somewhere above gurgles through the undergrowth as gravity urges it towards the lake. Aspen leaves quake in the breeze.
I soon learn, at least on this rocky ridge, that stopping to admire nature can be perilous. The narrow path drops too steeply on either side. To safely pause for scenery, first plant your feet firmly, then look around.
That’s not a bad motto for life either: Plant your feet firmly before looking around. How many times have we seen people looking left or right, or even back over their shoulder as they continue walking forward – right into a person, a post, or a tree?
Solid rock is a good place to stand while getting our bearings. It doesn’t shift, provides good footing, and offers a place from which to determine the next stage of our journey.
Let’s take the metaphor a little further. If that rock is Christ, the true idea of God, it supports every honest and unselfish desire as it breaks free of the undergrowth and tangles of selfish thinking. It provides a view of the future with so many possibilities, we scarcely know which path to follow.
Christ also speaks to us in ways we can understand, answering honest questions about life, helping us make wise and unselfish decisions. The path we take with Christ probably won't follow reassuring orange dots.
The confirmation that we are on a good path comes from our own on-going conversation with God, our own listening for His/Her direction, our own desire to walk hand-in-hand with divine Love's purpose.
“To ascertain our progress,
we must learn where our affections are placed
and whom we acknowledge and obey as God.
If divine Love is becoming nearer, dearer,
and more real to us,
matter is then submitting to Spirit.
The objects we pursue and the spirit we manifest
reveal our standpoint, and show what we are winning.”
Mary Baker Eddy
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