Hike Uphill First

A couple of summers ago, Ethel's husband and mine sent us off into gave us the gift of a few days away together in southern Vermont.  We packed up books to read, projects to work on, lots of indulgent comfort food to eat, and looked forward to several days of visiting shops, art galleries, hip, indie cafes, and farmers' markets.  We imagined early mornings of sitting on the farmhouse deck in our bathrobes, soaking in the cool, crisp air, drinking coffee and taking in the beauty of rural Vermont countryside.

Perhaps we were in one of our more serious physical fitness phases, or maybe we were just feeling a little guilty about the amount of food we were planning to eat, but we decided to get up and take a walk together on the first morning of our get-away vacation.  Down the dirt road we went, talking about life, spying newts and blooming lupine all along the country lane.  When we had walked far enough to feel virtuous about our efforts, we turned around and headed back toward the farmhouse.

Uphill toward the farmhouse.

Having been on more than a few challenging hikes with my husband, I knew that the downhill part of the hike was always easier than the uphill part.  Having to climb uphill after a lengthy walk was going to be just that much harder.  Ethel and I resolved that, in the future, should be we ever again get the urge to exercise together, we would remember this simple rule:  Hike uphill first.

In life as in hiking, I've found that it is almost always easier for me to descend than to ascend.  The weight of anxiety, fear, and anger; of grief over past sin tends to pull me downward.  I've been thinking about this quote from G. K. Chesterton that I found in Gretchen Rubin's book, The Happiness Project:

It is easy to be heavy; hard to be light.

Gretchen's book is about pursuing happiness which, at first glance, doesn't seem to be consistent with the idea of mature, faithful Christian living.  Aren't we supposed to be working on duty to Christ and others, dying to our own selves and interests?

Yet, Ms. Rubin caught my attention with another thought, based on the old saying, If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy, which I had always considered a bit of a thinly veiled threat as in--I am telling you, if you don't humor me, indulge me, and do the things that make me happy, I will make every one of your lives as miserable as humanly possible.  Do not test me on this.  You will not win.

But Ms. Rubin suggested the possibility that a mother's happiness (or lack thereof) tends to set the emotional tone for the home.  Ouch.  Perhaps that's a heavy burden to place on a mother's heart and shoulders.  After all, not all of us are wired to be bouncy, pouncy Tiggers; some of us tend to be a bit more like Eeyore in our thinking and outlook.  And life is hard and we get tired, and the brokenness of this life has left many of us weary and battered and bruised.  It is easy to let gravity take over, pulling us ever downward.

Although not writing from within a Christian worldview Ms. Rubin cites a number of Christian writers and thinkers in her book, which really shouldn't be surprising.  Where else but in Christ is true happiness to be found?  She includes this entry from a British diarist samed Samuel Pepys, dated February 23, 1662:

This day by God's mercy I am 29 years of age, and in very good health, and like to live and get an estate and if I have a heart to be contented, I think I may reckon myself as happy a man as any is in the world, for which God be praised.  So to prayers and to bed.

Connecting with The Gratitude Community has been, for me, a way of hiking back uphill.  Each item added to the list is like a step further in the toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow as the hymnwriter put it.  Each act of intentional thanksgiving is one step further uphill, a step closer to happiness--to a having a heart contented--to joy, for which God be praised.

473. The hurricane that wasn’t all that.

474. Late summer heat wave warming up the pool enough for a few more delicious days of swimming.

475. Work crisis resolved.

476. Grace in the midst of crisis.

477. Encouraging words during doctor visit.

478. New job for baby girl.

479. New year of RUF campus ministry.

480. Ice cream with the new students at the university’s dairy bar.

481. Train tickets to visit a friend.

482. Husband like a little kid at Christmas getting ready for dream-of-a lifetime elk hunt.

483. Son staining decks.

484. Agricultural fair season in New England.