MY PATH

Greetings friends,
This is the north face of Pikes Peak on 16 September 2006. My youngest daughter and I went on a 10 kilometer hike on the trails in the shadow of PP. It felt like a crisp autumn day although the calendar was telling me there is still a bit of summer left to go. The Aspens were in full fall colors and the walk, although physically challenging with lots of steep hills, seemed more like a peaceful stroll. This has got to be the best time of year. It is certainly a time where being outdoors is a must. I have done a lot of hiking in the past, but I think that now I am hiking in the Colorado Rockies I am humbled that much of my hiking was nothing more than walking. But I think that I should not be too hard on myself. We all have our own path to walk. God gives us all opportunities and opens different doors at different times for each of us. Sometimes the doors we want most to open remain closed. And yet we must in faith walk that path that God has laid out before us. I have long thought of hiking as a small slice of life itself. We all must walk the path-run the race that we have been given. I cannot walk your path, you cannot walk mine. We each must do what we can; some can run a 3 hour marathon, others of us must walk parts run parts and settle for 6 hour marathons, and yet we must conclude that the 3 hour and the 6 hour marathon have both gone the same distance. That is the essence of life...to go the distance. As the Apostle Paul said, to "run the race, to finish the course..." Each has been called to his or her own path, run-or-walk as if your life depended on it. And give thanks and glory to God that he has given you the path that you are on. Grace to each of you who read, and run, or walk.

Jeff