Dianne and I recently wanted to take the girls for a hike. Looking for a suitable place in our favorite hiking guide book, we decided upon the Shaw Arboretum in Gray Summit. The book said it was a three and a half mile walk and should take us about two hours if we checked out all of the points of interest along the trail. We thought that should be doable and with the daffodils in bloom it would be a nice way to spend an early spring morning.
I guess the day we went was a bit unusual. We did, indeed, spend the two hours but we did not quite make the full three and a half miles. In fact, we walked less than one mile into the trail, carrying Elsa most of the way. Then we had to return by the same way, carrying both Elsa and Katy, to make it back in time to get to our next event. You see, on that particular day there was a turtle family sunning on a log in the pond. We spent about twenty minutes watching them. The girls also found, on that particular day, that there was an abundance of rocks that needed to be thrown into the water. They found two baby snakes that caused further delay. Crossing the stream on stepping stones also proved to be something that needed to be done repeatedly before moving on.
When we attempted to explain our tardiness in arriving at our next stop by saying we had spent a little too long at the Arboretum it was met with confusion. “Isn’t that the place that just has leaves? How could you spend that long there?”
It is possible that we approach our relationship with God in some of the same ways. There are some who see the leaves and some who see the revelation hidden within the leaves. Some folks tend to follow well marked trails and concentrate on the points laid out by those who have gone before them; points which are constant and unchanging from one person’s journey to the next. Then there are those who seem to not even be aware there are any trails laid out or any sort of destination. They simply observe and take time to notice God’s presence in everything that is around them. They are the ones who find the utmost pleasure in each moment of every day. Each step IS the destination.
In this journey of faith the important part is not so much about completing a course. It is not so much about visiting all of the same places others have stopped. It is more about encountering God where you are at the moment and experiencing that divine presence in your own way and on your own journey. When we begin to approach God in this way our experience will not be measured in the distance we travel but in the number of turtles, rocks and snakes we find.
“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”
--Elizabeth Barrett Browning
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