We had been climbing for hours with little breaks here and there to enjoy the amazing scenery. Little did we know that our guides had a surprise for us. We were up so high we were at the tree line, and there was only one small bunch of trees left before the mountain continued to rise up into the sky. Our guides had us sit and wait while they went and set something up behind this last group of small trees. What was going on?
Unbeknownst to us one of the guides had carried up a large silver cross in his backpack, some bread, and some wine. Inside of the last cleft of trees at this height he was setting up a communion table on a flat log. One at a time the five of us went into this natural sanctuary made of ancient trees, ate the bread, sipped from the cup and remembered the One who loved us enough to die for us. One at a time we came out...rocked by the Holy Spirit!
Forgiveness and the incredible mercy of God was the essence of that weekend hiking trip for me. I went on the trip full of guilt and shame, and thanks to our guides, and the mercy of God I returned home feeling refreshed, cleansed, and accepted by God. I love the outdoors. That weekend I was blown away by the views of the beautiful valleys, mountains, lakes and streams, but I actually came home even more blown away by how great God is, and that he loved the world so much that he came to earth, died and rose again, to forgive sinners like me.
learning to pray: take communion, be grateful and rest in the knowledge that you are forgiven.
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