I was recently speaking with one of my friends who is studying abroad in America. Being from Austria she is used to having to travel farther distances to get places and having to go over mountains for a casual trip somewhere. I was explaining this class to her and how I now had an interest to go hiking. She laughed and told me that's pretty much what they had to do to get anywhere in Austria.
This made me realize how fortunate I am to live in the 757 where it is flat but be able to travel just a few hours and be in the Shenandoah Valley or along the Blue Ridge Mountains. She pointed out how spoiled we are and yet are not aware of the blessing it is. She does, however, say that she misses the mountains and the exercise they provided her with fairly often. After our hiking discussion, I was able to explain to her the idea of sacred journey and pilgrimage, something she had never really considered before. She seemed very open to the idea and said she had experienced something while hiking before but was never able to put her finger on it- was it an encounter with God or just a change in elevation that got to her brain? We'll never know unless she goes back for some clarity!
No comments:
Post a Comment