Every hike begins long before the first step is taken on the path.  A good bit of preparation is necessary to ensure a successful hiking experience.  A destination must be chosen.  Equipment and necessary supplies must be packed.  And the right gear must be chosen.  Among that gear would be the right kind of shoes.  [...]

Water Two thirds of the human body is water. Because we lose water constantly through perspiration, respiration, digestion and waste disposal, our body fluids must be replenished regularly. Without sufficient water, sweating ceases, blood circulation slows, and tasks become arduous. Even in temperate weather, people can survive only a relatively short time without water. In [...]

One of my favorite activities is hiking. It doesn’t matter if it is a few hours in the woods, a day hike to a mountain top, or a three day journey to camp at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There is something you gain by being surrounded by nothing but nature that you can’t [...]

Yesterday we looked at fear, how it paralyzes us and causes us to stumble and fall. But what was it that actually made the “wicked and lazy” servant so afraid? And what should we learn from it? Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, “Master, I knew you were a [...]

In the parable of the talents the final servant, the one who hides his talent in the dirt, gives his excuse for his failure in clear terms. I was afraid. A simple statement. Here’s your money. I didn’t lose it, at least… Fear makes us do bad things. Unwise things. Wicked things. Often it just [...]