A New Kind of Hard

So, the last time I was on the trail it was an incredibly humbling experience physically speaking. I couldn't get hydrated and I was completely drained of energy by the end of the week. This time I was so strong physically, but there were emotional and spiritual trials to learn from.

Last Wednesday, as we were preparing to go out, I learned that I would be with girls band again. This meant walking with several of the girls I had walked with the week before. Normally, I would be excited to walk with YWs that I had walked with before, and I was a little bit. But the last time I walked with them I was not myself, and I was hoping for a new beginning this week. Then, when we arrived at ridge, (this is where we get organized before heading into the camp spots for the different bands) we learned that there were some issues in our band. One of the girls had cut herself and we had to watch her closely throughout the week to prevent any further self-harm. She hadn’t been feeling well the last couple weeks and had sat (and then been driven to Final D) but it was our job to get her to hike this week. This meant that she needed to actually eat, drink water, and walk forward. These are all things that you can’t force someone to do if they don’t want to and her at Anasazi we never force, only invite them to make a good choice and leave it up to them.

The week started pretty rough when she wasn’t feeling well and came to me to say she didn’t think she could hike. I was flattered by this trust, however, when we pow-wowed about it and talked to RidgeWalk and it was decided that we had to hike, guess who was the bad guy – yep, the one who she confided in but made her hike anyway: me (and the lead TrailWalker). Thus we spent a good chunk of the next week being more or less hated by this girl, and since she is pretty influential, when she was hating us, much of the band was upset with us too. There were a couple girls in the band that were ok with us, but they didn’t want to go against their friends, so they just didn’t participate in the complaining.

The incredible thing is: we did it. Somehow – thanks to our WindWalker, and much help from the Creator – we hiked all the way to Final D. Granted we may or may not have had to carry this YoungWalkers pack for a day or two of the hiking, but we only did it when we could tell that she wanted to Walk Forward but didn’t have the physical ability to do so. She walked the whole way though from start to finish, and seeing that, and being able to point out what she accomplished, was success for me and the other TWs.

There were a lot of experiences from the week, but the one that I want to expound on came as I was carrying this girl’s pack on top of my own. I had a lot of awakenings as I sought to serve this girl that was more upset with me than I’ve ever experienced. As I carried this girl’s burden, I couldn’t help but think of Jesus telling the Jews that “whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain (Matt. 5:41).” Feeling the weight of this girl’s pack on my shoulders, I began to understand why that would have been such an difficult concept for the Jews. I then thought of the ‘Secret of the Second Mile’

*For those of you unfamiliar with this concept here it is from a talk by Vaughn J. Featherstone: “In ancient … times, soldiers could [force] teen-age boys in Roman provinces to carry their heavy backpacks for one mile, but no more. In a typical scene, we would see a soldier walk into a community. A teen-age boy sees him and starts to run and hide. The boy knows that if the soldier has seen him that he will be caught and whipped for running. The soldier does see the boy and motions for him to come and pick up the heavy backpack. Reluctantly, the boy shoulders the heavy load. The soldier motions toward the road leading out of town, and together they trudge toward the first mile marker.

“When the marker comes into sight, the soldier motions for the boy to put the pack down. The boy instead agrees to carry the pack another mile. The soldier reminds him that only one mile is required. However, the boy agrees to go ’the second mile.’ As they continue down the road, the soldier begins to talk with the boy. He asks him if he has seen the mighty ocean. The boy replies ‘No,’ so the soldier gives descriptive accounts of his adventures on the high seas. The soldier then relates stories about military campaigns in distant countries and describes snow covered mountains, which the lad has never seen.

“The vivid accounts stir the imagination of the young lad as he hears the tales of the seas and of distant lands. The second mile goes quickly, and the boy discovers the secret of ‘going the second mile.’ You go the first mile and you discharge a duty; you go the second mile and you make a friend. The great men and women in history have been those willing to go the second mile.”

I’ve never had as much energy on the trail as I did when I was striving to prove my love to this girl as well as myself.  Also, as I carried her pack, she walked with me; these were the moments when I got to see her at her most real. We had some good discussions and I enjoyed the chance to talk to her and share real truths about her worth and her creator. (I think I’ll have to do another entry about lessons on the atonement from the trail.)

It was a hard week, but I learned so much and I'm so grateful for the growth that came from it. It was truly a refining fire.