Up and Down

So as I said in the previous post, United Life went on a prayer hike this past Friday. We went to Rattlesnake Ledge, and made it up and down in around 2 hours. Not bad for a first prayer hike! We even had enough time to hang out at the top of the ledge for a bit to enjoy the beautiful view (in the pic it almost looks painted on!). 

A few things jumped out at me on this hike. First of all, the whole purpose for going on prayer hikes is to listen to and spend time with God. I found this to be hard to do, especially at first. Actually, we took the way up the mountain just to enjoy the hike and one another. It was on the way down that we consciously spaced ourselves apart and tried to just spend that time with God. My mind, however, couldn't stop thinking and worrying about my group. I kept thinking about whether anyone was getting what the prayer hike was all about. Then I kept thinking over what I had said at the top of the ledge and whether I should have said more. Then I started thinking about what I should say when we all met up at the end of the trail, trying to think of how to word my own prayer hike experience so that others would get the idea of what we're supposed to get out of it. 


Now, of course I could have worded things better. But I mention all of this to show how hard it was for me to let go of all of these other things and just listen to and spend time with God. It took me about half the trail just to let go and clear my mind of those other things, and just be content with God. That's one of the points of the prayer hike: at some point you get the chance to just let go of the other things, and focus instead on walking, breathing, and being with God. This is harder to do when you're sitting in front of a computer or in your room with access to all sorts of distractions. 


Another thing that jumped out to me on this hike was how much God just wants us to be with him, and how few chances we get to actually do that on a day to day basis. Even though I consciously try to set aside time with God on a daily basis, I found that my quiet time with him while walking down the mountain was just so much more full of him (and so much less full of distractions). Even in my daily quiet times I'm still thinking about what I've got to do next, where I've got to go. On the trail, however, at some point you realize you've got a lot more time on that trail, and there's really no use in trying to worrying about where you've got to go next until you've made it to the end of the trail. It's freeing in a way. All of a sudden all you've got to worry about is putting one foot in front of the other, and the rest of you gets to focus on being with God. 


In any case, we don't get to do this enough. Or maybe it's just that we can't really when we know that we can instantly hop on the computer to send an email or hop in the car to visit that person or place.


Finally, I got to thinking about the verse that led us on this hike in the first place: Matthew 14:23, "And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on a mountain by Himself to pray. And when evening had come, He was alone there." I realized that I hadn't thought that hard about the "up" and the "down" of Jesus' trip. Yet when we were actually making a hike ourselves, the "up" and the "down" of it were where everything happened for us. It's where we sweat the most, it's where we probably thought the most as well. I'm sure a lot was happening for Jesus on those trips up and down as well. It's not like he just appeared at the top. He had to take every (painful) step, just like us.