I have a dear friend who is an avid, passionate backpacker. Her hiking exploits began many years ago. To date she has trekked the Appalachian Trail, the Long Trail, the Smokey Mountains, the Grand Canyon rim to rim, Glacier National Park Trail, Cumberland Gap Trail, Little Manistee  River Trail, Pikes Peak, and as I write, I believe she is on the Colorado Trail. As I peruse this list, I am sure I have left some trail out….

In her early days of hiking, Lisa, for the most part, hiked alone. One time she soloed for thirty days. Occasionally she would hike with a partner or two, but she certainly loved her time alone. She is my most hard-core friend. In more recent years, while working with our church youth, Lisa decided to offer her knowledge, experience, and love of life on the trail. For months she diligently planned, recruited, educated, and prepared to embark on her first hike with a group of teenagers and accompanying adult leaders as her companions.

Because her love of nature, hiking, and venture is a very tangible and holistic expression of her love of God, Lisa named this trip the “Majesty Tour”. Her desire was for her companions not only to experience hiking the Appalachian Trail but also to take in the wonder and majesty of God’s incredible creative beauty displayed uniquely in that environment. Preparing for spiritual practices held as much importance as preparing their packs and learning how to set up camp. Within our circle of youth ministry, “Majesty Tour” was becoming a sacred and mysterious endeavor of the fortunate – at least in my heart……

Lisa led that trip, and yet another. She would take out two groups of our youth and leaders to experience and taste the majesty of our Creator. How those trips played out is a story Lisa must tell. Suffice it to say that she was on the cusp of resuming her solitary days on the trail – until she had another idea. An idea that offered to me the chance to realize a life-long dream. And so, along with the ladies I count dearest on the planet, I prepared to hike the Appalachian Trail. Our own Majesty Tour was born. I was fifty-five years old and going to see the majesty of God. That was five years and three hikes ago…

This morning as I walked the return half our local bridge, I found myself looking down at my feet and counting in time. It was hot, and I was soaked with sweat but, oh, so grateful for the ability to challenge “my” bridge. It’s always more than a walk on that giant expanse; it’s an exercise in gratefulness. Sweat and all. “Just get up to the top and down the other side and up the sidewalk again. You can do this, Pam.” Though the vista on top of the bridge is pretty, I find myself more focused if I look down. It’s like I can visualize my strength. And I can be thankful for it.  This morning I also found myself re-visiting our most recent hike. And I heard a companion question, “How can I enjoy God’s creation when I can’t take my eyes off the trail? If I do, I’m sure to trip over all these roots.” It is a question I have posed myself more than once.  Suddenly it came into view….

Majesty: great dignity of bearing; loftiness; grandeur.

“They can’t say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ You see, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:21

Majesty. It is not limited to that which is so much larger or spacious or breathtaking in beauty. Majesty is the life of God in the midst of my daily existence. Majesty is His beautiful Presence in my oft mundane routine. Majesty is displayed in the breathtaking vista atop a bald or on the shrouded trail that offers  silent, gnarled passage through its hidden path. Majesty is proclaimed by the bounding, effortless leaps of a mountain goat. Majesty is revealed when I recognize the strength to walk a bridge is a gift from One who resides deep within me. Majesty is the nature of God Himself. And He offers Himself to me. In the grandeur of a sunset. In the grandeur of a cold drink offered in His name.

I hope I never tire of drinking in the splendor of God’s creative extravagance. I never want to become so dull that tears no longer well at the sight of mountains, sunsets, raging rivers, raging waterfalls, mysterious forests, wildlife in their element. I want to be overcome. And yet I want never to miss the majesty of God in the quieter evidences of His blessing and power. Majesty in the struggle. Majesty in the wisdom to keep my eye on the pitfalls of life down here. Even majesty in my weakness or disappointment. My three backpacking trips have all been tough. It is not an easy endeavor for me. And yet, on each one, in the company of companions I love dearly, and in the solitary moments, in the looking up and in the looking down, Majesty. Majesty in all of it.