The Hike Master

“Christ is alive, and goes before us,

to show and share what love can do.”

—verse 4 of the song This Is a Day of New Beginnings

When Joseph was 9 years old, his Grandma Ruth told me of an article about a two-week summer day camp for special needs people.  He and I visited it, liked it, and signed him up.  Two moments especially stand out for me from that experience, one at the beginning and one at the end.

When picking him up after his first full day in the program, I asked him how it was.   “Great!  Nobody made fun of me!”  He high-fived me as simultaneous waves of heartbreak and relief swamped me.

The other moment was during the awards ceremony at the end of the program.  He was given a certificate that named him the group’s Hike Master, “always blazing a trail for others.”  As he returned to our picnic table with his award, his hands were shaking with excitement and we were both crying.

The line from a song, “Christ is alive, and goes before us to show and share what love can do” gives us an image of The Resurrected Christ as our Eternal Hike Master, always blazing a trail of love.

Let’s pay attention and walk that way today.