In 1967 I was living in New Haven, Connecticut. A group of
us decided to spend a weekend hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Our goal was to
climb at least one “4000 footer,” and we chose to climb Mount Madison on
Saturday. Our decision was to park along US-2, north of the mountain, ascend
via Kings Ravine and descend via ridge trails. The head wall of Kings Ravine is
very steep, and at some places one could touch hand to trail by leaning slightly
forward. Any steeper would have required roping in for safety. At the time I
was pretty close to peak condition. A couple of weeks earlier I had taken a
back pack trip over the last 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail, followed by
climbing Mountain Katahdin. I was hiking with an equally fit partner. When we
reached the ravine head we looked back and noted the rest of the group just
entering the ravine, at least an hour behind us.
My partner said, ”Why don’t you pick up Mount Adams while
you are here. I have already climbed that mountain, so I will let the group
know where you are.” The day was overcast, but comfortable above timberline, so
I headed toward Mt. Adams. It was around noon by the time I got there, so sat down
and ate my lunch while enjoying the view of my next objective, Mount Madison.
I didn’t dare sit there too long, though, so soon headed
across to catch up with my friends. When I reached the peak of Mt. Madison I
saw a small group just disappearing into the timber. Assuming this was my friends,
I quickly followed them – a VERY bad decision! When I caught up with them I
discovered it was a group of Boy Scouts heading east down the Daniel Webster
Trail into Dolly Cop Campground. At this
point, I had no choice but to continue downward. I knew I did not have enough
remaining energy to climb back up the mountain in order to descend the agreed
upon trails.
I had no excuse! Earlier in the day I had purchased a White
Mountain Trail Guide, and it was in my day pack. I did not consult the book
maps to be certain of the trail I should follow. I did not even look at the
trail markers to be certain of name and direction. My mind was closed: it "said"
my friends were disappearing into the timber, so I must follow them. As my college
roommate would sometimes say, “Don’t confuse me with the facts. My mind is made
up.”
Have you ever had similar experiences? Have you started out
with a specific goal in mind, along with a route to meet that goal, only to be
distracted by something that led you off your path? Our lives are like that. I am convinced that
we each have an ideal life path, and if we stay on that path we will arrive, content
and happy, at the end of our days. However, our path is not always easy and we
so often become distracted by side roads. Too often we arrive carrying a “bucket
list” of unfulfilled wishes. These wishes are probably the result of either
wanting something not on our intended path, or taking a side trip just when
that wish would have been fulfilled . . . or perhaps a simple assumption that this is the correct path to take. Sometimes we can even be so intent on reaching
a goal that we bypass things along our path. For example, at one point my path
took our family to Europe for a year. One day we were on the Autobahn, probably
no more than 15 to 30 minutes from the East German border. I was so intent on
reaching a goal that I by-passed a teaching opportunity to take our children to
the fence separating East and West Germany.
One of the best books ever written on this subject is John
Bunyon’s A Pilgrim’s Progress. He presents one ideal path of life, but it is
not always an easy path. Pilgrim is always being lured off the path for one
thing or another and must search his way back to his life’s path. If we really
examine our life, every one of us is Pilgrim. We are always coming to an
intersection in the path. Instead of evaluating the pros and cons of each
intersection as it is encountered, we tend to take what appears to be the
easiest or more attractive path. Once there we tend to lose our way back and
must ether bushwhack through unknown area, or just follow the new path wherever
it takes us. There are rarely situations in which we can retrace our life tracks,
but we must find that side road that returns us to our correct life path.
To complete my story, I did continue to Dolly Cop Campground.
It was deserted except for a few hiker cars, so I had to hike out to the road I
knew my friends would be using to return to our cabin. Once there I encountered
a driver who took me the several miles to our parking spot. As I got out of the
car the first of my friends emerged from the woods. They hadn’t even had time
to miss me, and all was well . . . except that I began to shake with
hypothermia. My resources had been completely exhausted.
We have choices, and not all choices are wise or even
comfortable. We are prone to explore things as we go through life, and we often
loose our way in the process. We can easily become exhausted, discouraged, and
depressed. No matter how far off our life path we may wander, however, God is
always available, ready and able to rescue us and get us back onto the correct path.
Our task is simply to accept His help and direction.
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