May Passion not a Conflagration Unleash
October 18, 2018
My sons continue to call my trips vision quests. I said I was calling this one the clarification.
I have spent the past few days alone in the wilderness. I have not reached forty days, yet. In the Daniel Boone National Forest and now here in the Cherokee National Forest the fire risk is low. Hurricane Florence pumped moisture inland and steady rains ensued. It is clear and beautiful now, but the land was saturated. During many Falls there would be crunch to every step and one stray spark could set a fire a going, as the old song warns. My trip is a combined camping, hiking, but mostly Civil War Battlefield tour. I take these trips solo because I know my wife would not enjoy the camping, long hiking, and multiple days engrossed ln the details of another battle. We can enjoy life apart because we know we will enjoy wonderful times together. I will plan for a sand beach, real beds, and meals served, not pulled out of a pack. These are the required components of an enjoyable couples trip.
Left alone I tend to meditate, silently pray, read, and contemplate. I realize this can carry me into dangerous shoals. One of the joys of my trip is it allowed me to attend a small Eastern Kentucky United Methodist Church. They are awaiting an appointment; therefore, a guest pastor gave the message. He was a retired UMC minister. He gave a strong fundamental message. Many say I believe, but few follow a path of salvation. As I shook his hand afterwards, I said he was getting right at the kernel of things. The people were warm and wonderful, a true family of a congregation. As I was leaving they kept inviting me to return; I kept reminding them I lived over five hundred miles away. It was a privilege to feel free to come together in worship, it was a resonant end to my week at Daniel Boone National Forest.
I moved on to the Cherokee National Forest and the battles of Chattanooga and Chickamauga. It was drier always an improvement to camping. I ended the week driving to Iowa. I had to reunite with my wife at her college homecoming. It is an every five-year requirement in our marriage agreement. My second Sunday away found me in a Central Iowa congregation of a medium sized church. This church had a choir, a group that sang with a voice. The young woman minister was a great enthusiastic speaker. She brought grace and joy to the service. Her message was of Peter meeting and eating with the gentiles. A needed message to hear from the pulpit of how we were all called to share in the communion of the Holy Spirit. I have always found the cross and flame emblem to be a beacon of welcome. I have experienced this welcome everywhere I have gone. I just belong in our denomination. I worshipped with an all African-American congregation; I was welcomed with great love and inclusion. I may be the whitest man in America, but I know the hymns, the responses, the contemporary songs, and can accept communion by various methods. I know what the ministers sent to my small churches have told me. The message I have heard is we are to openly offer the love of Jesus to the world.
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