5-Minute Trekker's JournalSample

A FLEETING MOMENT

MANY YEARS AGO, during my first long hike on the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire, I witnessed a fleeting moment of beauty that I have never forgotten. Late one day, after an easy ten miles of walking on mostly flat ground, I began to search for a place to rest for the night. About a mile or so beyond a small town, I happened upon a cabin about fifty yards off the trail. Inside, the uninviting shelter was cold and dark. I dropped my gear and settled in, resigning myself to a night in the woods alone.

After a light dinner, I felt an urge to get away from the shelter's gloom, so I left it to take a walk toward an open field on a hillside surrounded by thick woods. As I approached the field, the light from the declining sun drew contrasting shadows against the bright yellows and greens of the long, uncut grass. It was a picture of tranquility, and I was glad to bask in it.

As I stood in the midst of this natural still-life, I became aware of three deer grazing above me on the hillside. They did not notice me, and so I quietly gazed at that scene of tranquil beauty. Time seemed to suspend itself: even the wind briefly stood still. Just as quickly, though, a soft breeze cut across the scene, and the deer lifted their heads in unison, sensing an intruder. They hesitated a moment and then vanished into the shadows of the surrounding woods. Once again, I was in what had been a bright place; now, dusk was transforming the soft summer scene into something more ominous as the waning colors of the fields turned gray.

Now, all these years later, I remember that scene as if it were an image painted by God Himself. I felt the warmth of God's peace that day, but I had to return to the lonely cabin's cold embrace. I did not know then that the journey ahead would often be long and hard. Yet, wherever life would lead me, I carried with me that image of momentary grace as sustenance for the journey ahead, regardless of the conditions, whether easy or difficult.

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