When I ran places like Wutong Mountain or the Great Wall of China I was overwhelmed by the seeing. The breadth and magnitude was breathtaking and inspiring. And as I ran I thought a lot about the nature of seeing.
“The seeing is important. René Daumal, French spiritual writer and poet, once said,
‘You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of finding one’s direction in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.’
When we have been in the heavens, we still know; we still have awareness of deep and holy realities there. And God is like that for us. We can see His handiwork in the mountains and in the great structures from ancient times. We can see His glory… And as we see His glory, as we know Him and draw near and allow ourselves to be vulnerable with Him, He teaches us.”
From Laughter Near the Edge of Heaven, Henry Lewis
Amazon: http://bit.ly/NearHeaven
Author website: www.henrylewiswriter.com
#trailrunner #hiking #nature
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