More on Life and the Trail

I opened this blog with some thoughts on life and the trail. I had a few more thoughts on the connections between life and hiking that I never got around to posting. So, here they are.

First, every hiker understands the value of traveling lightly. Hikers are fanatical about reducing every ounce of excess baggage like drilling holes in toothbrush handles, using ultralight gear, reducing the amount of food you have to carry. Every extra ounce of weight can be a hindrance that slows you down and keeps you from going on further.

Wise people in life understand that we are just passing through life. Life is a journey, so why get weighted down by things that keep us from moving ahead? Our goal should not be to add on more weight, a bigger house payment, more car payments, more gadgets and toys and possessions, greater credit card debts. Our goal should be to reduce the weight and keep moving as pilgrims and strangers on earth.

Second, hiking is purposeful. It's about putting one foot in front of the other and keeping on going, even when it is difficult. Success in life is moving forward toward the goal. God's desire for us is to make us more and more like Jesus Christ, and that means that we keep moving forward in life. Sometimes life is difficult. Sometimes life doesn't make sense. Sometimes your best friend dies at 35 in a car accident. Sometimes your wife has a miscarriage. Sometimes your husband walks out on you after twenty years of marriage. But you don't stop. You keep moving ahead.

You're not always going to understand what God is doing in your life. You're not always going to be prepared for everything that comes along. The same is true on the trail. You cannot prepare for every eventuality. Sometimes you encounter the unexpected on the trail. Sometimes what you come across on the trail does not match what the trailguide in your hands says. But you just keep moving, putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that things are going to get better.

A couple of years ago, my wife and I lost a child in the tenth week of pregnancy. As we went through that experience, I asked God a lot of times to help me understand why this had happened. I never got an answer to that question. But what I did come to understand was that I don't have to always understand what God is doing for me to trust Him. I just keep walking the trail.