Take a Hike!

View from Mount Tammany 

                It was a beautiful day for a hike, so I took one.  Actually it was a pre-planned hike that happened to fall on a beautiful day.  You see, three friends and I are planning a new ministry, one involving – you guessed it – hiking.  But it’s not just hiking, anyone can do that.  This ministry focuses on the fact that we humans are both physical and spiritual beings, so the hikes are intended to integrate our physical and spiritual natures by exercising both. 

                I confess that I was a little nervous going into today’s hike.  While I like to hike, and I do hike a fair amount, Eric, Ken and Evan are much more athletic than I am, and I have at least ten years on the next oldest guy.  I was a little afraid that I’d be the rickety old guy that they’d have to take turns carrying back to the car after some crucial joint or ligament failed me.  I’m happy to report, though, that I held my own among the young bucks; the nursing home deposit goes back into the sock drawer.

                Today was our test run for our first hike as a ministry next month.  Ken planned the route – a beautiful three-mile hike on Mount Tammany along the Delaware Water Gap in New Jersey; Eric clocked our time and the difficulty of the route with some fancy exercise gadget; I planned some simple spiritual exercises to do along the way; and Evan brought the toilet paper – I’m not kidding, though I really don’t know why.  Be prepared, I guess.  We left home at 5:30 am, and hit the trail by 6:30.  It was a crisp, sunny morning, and we were practically alone on the trails.  It really was a beautiful day for a hike.

                Mount Tammany is a challenging hike, so our pulse rates jumped pretty quickly.  Well, at least mine did; I don’t know about the others, but I suspect that Eric’s gadget captured all of our bio-metric data and sold it to the Russians.  From time-to-time we’d stop to check out the great views, share some scripture passages (Jesus’ appearance to his disciples along the road to Emmaus) and engage in some pretty heady discussions.  We talked about why we believe in the existence of God, whether the Messiah had to suffer, the meaning of redemption, the challenges we face at work, and why the hell Evan brought toilet paper on a hike – a whole roll, I’ll add, which mercifully he never used.  It was a great morning with three great guys whom I’m blessed to know.  It was physically and spiritually uplifting and exhausting – in a good way.

                So if you’re interested in some no-frills physical and spiritual exercise, stay tuned.  We’re planning our first hike for men in mid-May where we’ll talk about the existence of God.  After that, we hope to have hikes covering all sorts of spiritual topics for women, couples, families and anyone who’s interested.  So if you want to exercise your heart and soul, come take a hike!  You might even find out why Evan brought the toilet paper.