2nd Week Monday Musing - Take a Hike!

 Often used to tell someone to go away, take a hike could also be the US phrase for a call to the outdoors. It turns out Hiking is the number one outdoor activity in the US. A record 63.4 million US adults went hiking in 2024 contributing over $92B to the US economy.

When we talked as a group about how we described this trip to family and friends, it was predominantly about the hiking and the number of miles that we’d do each day. But we are not on a hike. We are on a pilgrimage which obviously includes hiking but is much more.

We are following the trail of St Ignatius and learning how his pilgrimage helped him transform from a wealthy family son to someone of poverty putting all things in God’s hands and thru the sacrifices, teaming with others to create the Jesuits and promote the teachings of Jesus around the world by using empathy and education to help people see the way of Christ.

I can’t speak for others on the trip, but I can share a bit of my journey. I’ve never blogged before but since I’d be away for a while, decided to try and blog so anyone with interest could follow along. But that would make this just a recollection of a hike. I decided to add the daily musings to show some of my thoughts and how this experience is changing me. My hope would be to get to the place my Mom was where her faith in God gave her confidence in every step she was taking in life. She mentioned to me that she was not afraid to die, just that she wasn’t ready to leave her kids yet. When she passed away last May, I and all of my siblings were sure she was going to heaven and would reunite with our Dad.

I don’t know that I’ll get there during these 2 weeks but I’m learning to be more open to the possibility. I’ll probably address what’s blocking me in a future musing, but none of these conversations with peers and none of these musings would be possible if this was just a hike. Hard walks, thoughtful meditations, lots of fun and camaraderie and many prayerful moments have made the trip so far transformative although there is still a long way to go (both figuratively and spiritually).

Peace

Fred

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