Trekking Reflections

For reasons I’m not entirely clear on, Paul and I recently embarked upon a ten-day trek to Annapurna Base Camp in the Himalayas! We had plans to meditate, journal, pray and seek God for us, family, friends – as we trekked in the most stunning surroundings.

This didn’t happen!

Suffice it to say that this experience took me to the limit of my physical (and as a result – of my emotional and mental) capabilities.

At one point I decided that the only reason we could have found ourselves in this place – apart from voluntarily booking it! – was to witness to our fellow trekkers. As most were ahead of me! – I picked a lady who walked my pace. I asked whether she had a faith – “NO.” Gesturing to the mountains and sunrise I asked if she thought there was a ‘creator’ – “NO.” I started to talk about my faith - and then she set off walking!

I’ve no idea what I thought of for the 8-9 hours of arduous trekking each day – I just remember telling myself to keep going for the count of one hundred – then another hundred, and another ……...!

AND THEN -

I found myself having a visceral experience of Matthew 6:34 -

 “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” NKJV.

Or as The Message puts it: “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

I’ve always struggled with this verse. Whilst I understand it intellectually – in my head – I don’t think I’ve ever been able to put it in to practise. I operate by looking at what ifs, planning for contingencies, fretting about where a situation may lead. I fight against this, come to God with it but I struggle.

As I walked, I realised that the biggest challenge for me was to stay in the moment. When I contemplated the rest of the day to come, the freezing cold accommodation at the end of the day, the next day, the next …. I wept and felt so overwhelmed that I wanted to just sink to the ground in despair. I actually felt precious energy drain from my body when my mind dwelled on what was still to come – leaving me struggling even more to walk in the moment.

This was my practical lesson in this verse – I physically felt how much harder it was to walk- whilst thinking of the next day’s walking or the freezing bed. It was so much more ‘doable’ – if I stayed in the moment, counting even, trying to take a moment to be thankful for the scenery, our wonderful guide, etc. It was a visceral feeling – a feeling that I felt very deeply, and it wasn’t the result of my ‘thinking’ anything through- it was just a truth that I felt deep in my gut.

What does this mean going forward? We are about to go into a new year – some of us with difficult things going on in our lives. I’m not in any way suggesting that the hard things we face in life are the same as me on a voluntary holiday. But I am praying that this ‘gut’ understanding and physical experience of this verse will be with me when I’m facing challenges and difficult times going forward. That I will remember that I need to deal with the moment in front of me, ask God for strength for that moment, try to find something that I can be thankful for in that moment and work really hard to not let my energy – physical, emotional and mental - be drained by spending time thinking on something that may be ahead.

And I pray that for you too.