Here’s one way to fight the post-Christmas COVID doldrums: Get outside. So far, the January weather is not that bad. In fact, lingering snow and daytime highs just below freezing make for great sledding and skating weather. Social distancing is easy and this may be the only time when wearing a mask actually makes you more comfortable. Read More
Kaylin Carlson prayed for a way to bring creativity and fun to people during COVID-19. Kaylin’s Quarantine Run has done even more — and it just keeps growing.
Editor’s note: This was written before COVID-19, but we think it’s relevant during this difficult week. Enjoy a brief diversion.
Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.
— Luke 1:78-79
Everyone has their fantasy job. For me, it’s nature photographer. Driving and hiking in the dark to crazy places. Setting up equipment, then waiting for daybreak. Chasing light.
Actually, it’s more than that. It’s chasing glimpses of glory. Finding those places where the veil between heaven and earth feels especially thin.
Last year during Easter week, I was in Calgary working with Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada. Much as I love the people and the work there, I couldn’t wait until Thursday afternoon. That’s when I’d grab a rental car and drive an hour to Banff National Park. The mountains were calling, and I had 24 hours before my flight home. Read More
A few lesser-known places in and around Rockford where you can take a quiet walk in the woods this fall:
“Atwood park holds a very special place in my heart. It’s a true hidden gem in the area. I’ve been hiking out there since I was in high school, and now I take my kids there. Not only are there great hiking trails and different ecosystems to explore, but there’s also great history there with the remnants of Camp Grant, and the CCC and of course the unique Birds of Prey exhibit. If you time your visit right, you may even be lucky enough to catch a feeding.”
I rummage through an old backpack in the trunk of my car. What a mess back here. Camping blankets, a few bins to take to Goodwill. Ah, there it is. I grab my fleece that was resting on a piece of “art” I purchased weeks ago at Home Goods. The red clearance sticker is still stuck in the upper right-hand corner, half peeled from when I impatiently tried to scratch it off. The quote that enticed me, centered over an image of faded trees, reads:
“Into the woods I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”
That’s John Muir. Naturalist and conservationist. Father of our national parks. A life devoted, as one biographer put it, to “saving the American soul from total surrender to materialism.”
All a little easier said than done, John, I whisper, shoving the Home Goods bag to the side. Home Goods. A store designed to keep my attention anywhere but on the woods.
I check my wallet for some extra change. Enough for a cup of coffee later. I didn’t dare make coffee at home. The plaster walls of our “house with charm” would send the caustic whirr of grinding beans through every wooden floorboard and wake my sleeping family. It’s not that I don’t want to see or talk to them yet, I told myself. But it’s also just that I don’t want to see or talk to them yet.
I shut the trunk and fill the tank. The early hour is quiet and still but already my mind and heart are loud and harried. Any onlooker would see a middle-aged woman pumping gas. But inside? Inside is a mind marathon of Olympic proportions. Pathways and synapses have been engrained to quickfire as soon as my feet hit the floor. Such well-worn paths. Circuits paved by unbridled worry and the weighty responsibilities of all the things I feel I must DO.
Set up calendar meeting … review budget deadline … print recipe … make grocery list … set up oil change … cancel subscription … catch up on podcast … RSVP to invite … email back … text back … call back … catch up on study … look up weather.
Sixties and overcast. Good. Hiking in the heat is a discipline all its own. This morning is a welcome respite to the humid tem-
The gas pump handle pops. Tank’s full. I finish, turn the key and drive. The radio is on, but I don’t really hear it. I’m listening to something else, a station I never remember tuning to and that most days I forget to shut off. It continually emits frequencies like: thaw the chicken … dust the fans … order the checkbooks … prepare the lesson … bleach the toilet.
Into the woods I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.
