A Proper Trajectory

I am not sure what picture comes into your mind when I speak of hiking the AT, and quite frankly, I now know I did not have a complete picture.  

My point of reference dated back to when Renee and I lived in the Maggie Valley and Waynesville, NC region of western NC.  We loved to hike in the   Cataloochee Valley Park located just nearby to Maggie Valley.  It had some very steep trails.  When I worked with young men in various churches, I loved to take them there for hiking and camping.  For many it was their first experience in the deep woods, and certainly their first opportunity to test their mettle against a very long and steep hike.

However the trails of the Cataloochee Valley area are apparently what my old forestry school companion, Harold Heatherly, called "hippie trails."  I say that because the trails of that area were veritably free of rocks, roots and boggy areas.  One just has to deal with the severity of the trail's grade.

I am now discovering that much of the AT is very different.  It involves a lot of climbing and descending of rock ledges and faces.  When one is performing that feat, he/she needs to study the path before them to make sure they are attacking the rock face at the proper angle or trajectory.  For instance, if your feet are facing forward when they should be turned sideways, you may build up too much speed and find yourself plunging forward with a momentum you cannot sustain.  So the hiker needs to not only be looking down where his/her feet are currently positioned, but also looking forward to make sure the trajectory you are on will lead you safely and directly to the best footholds that lead either up or down the rock face.  Sometimes those footholds are crevices in the rocks, and sometimes they are provided by a well placed flat stone or a tree.

In everyday life, all of us, whether a hiker of the AT or not, are setting our lives on a certain trajectory via the beliefs and values we adopt.  While on the AT, I've met a number of folks who say they are either an agnostic  

  or atheist when it comes to belief in a Creator God.  Such a faith commitment on their part is setting the course of their life on a certain trajectory.  I say "faith commitment" because I really and truly believe that God has provided an abundance of evidence within His creation to His existence.  I see that evidence every day on the AT; in the beauty and marvelous design of flowers and trees, and in the coordination required of my human body to do this hike.  It just fascinates me to no end to experience the " in the blink of an eye" coordination that happens thousands of times per minute between my eyes, brain and limbs.  

I thank God for the trajectory that belief in Jesus the Messiah has set for my life.  I know that in this world I am but a pilgrim.  I know that my ultimate and eternal home is om heaven with my Savior, and with the God whose glory is clearly displayed in His creation, and in His written Word, the Bible.  It is because of that trajectory that I am undertaking this AT thru hike so as to raise as much money as possible to provide Bible training and scripture resources for South Sudanese refugees.  

Life in a refugee camp is tough.  Real tough.  And if one is enduring such an existence without a Gospel established life trajectory, it is without a doubt much tougher.  So please join us in our endeavor to raise $100,000 or more to provide scripture for refugees.

Uncle