4Ü #271
Mountain man is back ...
29 March 2007
- WASSUP - Mountain man is back
- INSIGHT OUT - Rees / Dart day one (also known as Monday)
- OUTSIGHT IN - Make peace with Monday
- SEE YA SUNDAY - I believe in the church
- LAST WORD - The nature of things
WASSUP - Mountain man is back
I made it back from the mountains!
Over the next couple of weeks I will attempt to share with you, in words amazing ...
the experience I've had in the mountains.
Identities protected
Only slight embellishments of facts
Andrew
INSIGHT OUT - Rees / Dart day one (also known as Monday)
The team: The Doctor, otherwise known as the butcher (69), the accountant (62), the Principal (49), and me (48) a poet without a pen. For six days our lives would be eating, sleeping and walking mountain tops and valleys.
Who are these people I have signed my life over to?
Risks assessment:
Bad and annoying habits?
Eccentric personalities?
Time will tell
Dawn breaks with promise, anticipation and ...
measuring
lots of measuring
measure the rations for each day
measure our ages, our weight and size, our fitness levels, wisdom and
most of all the weight we would each carry on our backs
Our first debate was over the age / weight ratio and should any concession be given for age / cunning / experience?
No, each man to carry his own weight plus
The bus ride to the beginning of the track was full of bravado
simple maths and a little research told us that there were 23 people on the bus
and only 22 beds for the first night
We're not competitive but knew that the others on the bus represented one who could take our bed - we would not sleep on the floor!
At a blistering pace we set off
The braided river valley of the Rees lay before us bathed in the most beautiful of sunlight and blue sky
The mountains called
but there was too much of Monday in me to hear their voice
What did I forget to do or say before I left?
What appointments was I missing?
Vague prompts of guilt (being here)
The undone and unresolved still trying to be completed
Back to the race, oops ... I mean tramp
What is the shortest distance between two points?
A straight line of course!
So let's leave the track and take on the river and its flats
Only to find ourselves swallowed waist deep in swamp
they are gaining on us
Surrender to the track
Others have been this way before
Time has worn a track that knows the best way
Lunch was an OSM (one square meal)
the wrapper said it contained 1/3 of all our daily needs
and along with the Dr's calculations we were assured it was a well balanced diet.
I never knew that cardboard was so healthy
Uninvited guests joined us on the river flat for lunch
They wanted to eat us
Time to keep moving
The back chat starting to quiet down
The further we walked the less we talked
Pain was setting in
Packs light in the morning increasing in weight every passing hour
Silence
More pain
The steps became shorter and shorter
One foot in front of the other, in front of the other ...
Leki sticks became lead weights in my hands
We had hit the carb wall
The body had used all the carbs and was now feeding on fat
A form of personal cannibalisation
With the hut in sight and the realization that the "others" were catching up
A final burst on energy
We made it!
Boots off
Claim the prize for the day ...
A hot toddy
Freeze dried something
bed
a small pink pill
and sleep
and bliss ...
for some
OUTSIGHT IN - Make peace with Monday
Lesson for the day:
To enjoy the week you will need to make peace with Monday
SEE YA SUNDAY - I Believe ... in the church
We continue this Sunday with the series titled "I believe ..."
Over the next few weeks we'll be exploring the Apostles Creed
Don't for a minute think this is some old dusty document that will be forced upon you like tripe and onions. No! As we explore the Creed we will use it to uncover what you truly believe. It will be an opportunity for you to face some sticking points and doubts in your faith and maybe even to uncover a new faith that you never thought possible.
This Sunday "I believe in the church"
I saw a fridge magnet this week (at a church) that said, "people are giving up on church and finding God".
That is so sad, but it is also so true for many people.
This Sunday morning I am excited to paint a compelling and inspiring picture of Church as the hope of the world!
I believe it!
This Sunday evening 7.00pm - you will be spoilt for choice!
An all new evening service is underway with Matt.
Can't wait ... see ya Sunday
Thanks for this time to chat.
Andrew
St Columba
Where Life and Faith Meet
andrew.norton@stcolumba.org.nz
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LAST WORD - The nature of things
The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.
William Wordsworth