When I was younger and on the canoe trail I used to go across portages as fast as I could. I remember friends with whom it was somewhat of a competition. That meant of course that what I usually saw was the path in front of me. Either I had the canoe on my shoulders blocking most the view of what surrounded me, or I was double packing and my head was bent forward under the load.
That meant portages were just a place to work hard and get through. Of course some of them are not places you want to linger, especially in mosquito season as you go slogging through the muck. Some portages deserve the wicked names they have acquired. But some portages reveal amazing rock formations, waterfalls, magnificent old growth and impressive vistas. Thank goodness I have gotten older and wiser (and slower). This past summer while on a fantastic canoe trip with men from our church I savored the second trip (and third) on each of the portages on the Falls Chain leading out of Cache Bay on the way to Kawnipi Lake. There were some turns on those trails that just must be taken slow and perhaps graced with a stop to take in and appreciate with reverent awe what God has just shown you.
I can bring to memory a clear mental image of one such spot coming out of Wet Lake where the portage path came close to the river through which all the water of Saganaga Lake was flowing north. The tree cover opened up at that spot and I felt so close to the immense strength of the river current it was almost as if I could reach out and touch the power of God. It was a good place for a meditation, and to catch my breath for the rest of the journey.
I know I’m “preaching to the choir” here when I talk about slowing down and taking in the beauty that surrounds us. I have met many of you who tell me of your hikes and paddles to see the wonders around us. Just this past week we had been paddling on a gem of a lake high up in the mid-trail hills. We left as the sun was getting low and on my second trip down the hill, the canoe already safe on top of the car, I could slow up. This was a portage some friends and I took many years ago. We thought it hilly and tough and we just wanted to get it quickly behind us. This time it was completely different. Again the tree cover opened to reveal the beauty of the hills on the other side of the valley in front of me. If those weren’t peak colors, they were close enough for my enjoyment. The sun hit them with all the strength of its October brilliance, the yellows gleamed and the reds burned. It was the same path I had endured before, but now it was a revelation that moved my heart to praise. It was as if the curtain of the temple had been torn in two and pulled aside to reveal the awesome beauty only God could create, and I was privileged to be standing in that temple praising God at that moment. What changed about that portage? I had!
Isn’t it a curious and wonderful phenomenon that we can experience the same thing in such a different spirit? A friend of mine told a story of growing tired of the worship liturgy of his childhood. Old, boring, meaningless, he felt he had to endure it to make his parents happy. But then one Sunday he entered worship by himself after a life event that took his breath away. The liturgy began, and in a sudden momentous new event, he felt the Spirit sweep over him as 2,000 years of pastors and people chanting praise to God came home in a new way. And he wondered what changed? He had!
I am now old enough, and maybe even wise enough to realize that God is always speaking to us, we just need to stop talking long enough to listen. God is always showing us marvels and wonders, we just need to slow up enough to witness the grace. May all of you be so blessed in this beautiful season. Behold and listen, God has something just for you.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month our contributor is Reverend Mark Ditmanson of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais.
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