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hiking
The Rev. Karen Brown, whose sermon brought the REvangelism Conference to a rousing and joyous conclusion, told viewers near the beginning of their time together that they’d need three props to get the most out of what she had to tell them.
The past year has been this odd dance of ever-changing realities and downright monotony. We have completely shifted how we live. From shopping to Sunday school, nothing is the same. All the while, this new way of living has meant staring at the same walls, the same Zoom screen and the same people day after day. Waking up to wonder what crazy thing happened while I slept, while at the same time realizing that today’s schedule will essentially look like yesterday’s, has pretty much sucked the creative lifeblood right out of me.
Since its establishment in 2015, the nonprofit Interfaith Veterans’ Workgroup, based in Wilmington, Delaware, has provided a supportive interfaith community to assist returning veterans reacclimate to civilian life.
For three days, I joined other Young Adult Volunteers and a diverse group of Christians as we walked from Ghost Ranch to the Sanctuario de Chimayo, a historic church in northern New Mexico. The tiring, trying and transformative 50-mile journey through the beautiful countryside continues to color my spiritual growth. Reflecting now, more than a year later, I smile, remembering a poignant moment of the trek: when we held others in intercessional prayer.
Ascend the church’s steep driveway on any given day during peak hiking season — March through November — and you’ll see pup tents pitched on the church’s grassy knoll. Flanking the driveway are plastic lawn chairs doubling as drying racks, draped with underwear, pants, shorts and soggy socks of every size and color, drying in the sun and wind. Backpacks are opened to breathe needed fresh air and an array of hiking boots, creased and worn from the sharp Pennsylvanian rocks, rest nearby, exhausted from the journey.
