Mortality

This Saturday, I went out hiking with three friends, two of which were my roommates. I honestly thought it was going to be a simple walk through a nice scenic path. But as it turns out, my friend's (who was leading us) definition of hike was going off the trail and going near vertical.

As we slipped along our way up among unfastened gravel and devious shrubbery, it came to my attention that we were at a pretty significant altitude. And as I considered how miserable the climb had been to that point, I could not fathom how we were going to get back to ground level.

As two among our group disappeared around a cliff, I caught up to one of my friends who was resting on a semi-flat surface. Rest, take your time he encouraged. I nestled up beside him, and gazed eye level to an adjacent mountain, and down to a small glacial lake that formed in the valley between us.

It was both beautiful and terrifying.

And as I mused over the inconsistency of the experience thus far, my friend said,

It's funny how it takes a mountain to make me think of God.

I could not sympathize with him more. We were both at a place distant to God. Life in its mundane normality had once again granted us the freedom to slip away from the only thing that sustains us.

We talked and we prayed, and we continued on. At the top most point we could get to, there was a delightful waterfall dripping from an overhang.

The water tasted terrible, but we made camp on an edge nearby in the sun and feasted upon peanut butter jam sandwiches.

Uncertain of the possibility of getting down safely (well... my friends we're certain) it was truly a great time to reflect upon my own mortality; realizing how trivial some things are in life, rediscovering what is important and what should be treasured.

Well, getting down was surprisingly easy. As it turns out, all you had to do was coast and slide with the rocks. But I could not have finished it without the encouragement of my friends.

Reading the papers, I'm always disturbed when our Canadian soldiers are killed in Afghanistan; the Cpl So-and-so's, Pvt What's-his-names, and the Sgt What's-his-faces. Some of them are older than me. A lot have been my age or younger. And I wonder, why should anyone younger than me die before me? What have I done to deserve to live longer?

Much closer to home, I learned today a friend had past away a from a freak accident. We would bump frequently in Mac Hall, and he always greeted me with such vibrance. He was young, and excited about his program. I never felt uncomfortable with or around him, but continually welcomed.

Rest well Nathan. Thank you for your great example.