A Trail Walk

The clinic is closed on weekends.  I alert the police of my wanderings so they can come find me should an emergency arise.  So this morning I walked a couple miles north up the trail from Supai towards Hilltop.  That’s the 8 mile trek that some 200-300 hikers travel daily to see the beauty in this isolated crevice of the Grand Canyon. 

 Sounds carry far as they bounce off the canyon walls:  crows arguing, birds singing, the plodding crunch of hikers’ footsteps or their conversations—often a foreign language, the laughter of a stream as it tumbles over the limestone slabs, the steady clip-clop of the hooves of packers’ horses preparing to bring down camper’s gear or community supplies on their return.

It was kind of an Emmaus walk with a bit of photography thrown in.  Unfortunately,  even with the amplification of the narrow canyon walls, Jesus’ voice is not necessarily louder.  So it seemed a bit of a one sided conversation.  The topic was suggested out of the book by Chris Webb, The Fire of the Word; Meeting God on Holy Ground.  Ponder the paradox of John12:24-25:  life comes through death.  The one who loves his life will lose it; the one who hates his life will keep it.  I continue to process that and wait for new insight.

One thing is reassuring, it seems to me that Jesus struggled with the concept as well (“Now my heart is troubled..” and later, “My soul is overwhelmed…” ).  When my friends and colleagues were gunned down last year,  I asked, (shared my complaint with) Ken Robinson, “What is there about this dying business that is supposed to bring good?”   He was troubled, too.  So, I guess I am in fine company with the pondering.  But it was good to consider we walked together, even in the silence.