Our journey was stopped short. We were looking for 2174 miles, we only made 548. While we are disappointed we didn’t get to finish, we feel blessed by what we were allowed to do. In addition to the simple joy of hiking and our trail education, Jennifer and I learned some things about ourselves, our world, and our faith that were unexpected.
One of the most encouraging aspects of the trail was angels. We met angels along the way. Angel is a hiker term for good hearted people who go out of their way to make the hike more enjoyable. Most of them are former hikers who want to repay the angels they met on their hike by passing along the gifts they received to the next generation of hikers.
Imagine being out on the trail for two, three, or maybe four days. All you have had to eat is what you have carried and all you have had to drink is water. As you walk, your mind plays video of burgers and fries, pizza, or maybe steak and potatoes. You dream of a tall glass of ice tea or, in my case, a cold Dr Pepper. But you are still miles, perhaps days from town.
Coming to a road crossing, you notice a measure of human activity that is out of place for the trail. You realize, you are about to experience trail magic. Magic is the term for the food and drink the angels give away. They give it to hikers for free. Their payment is just to see the joy and gratitude on the faces of the hikers they have blessed.
The first angels we met on the trail were in North Carolina. Three single people, in their mid 30’s, from Jacksonville, Florida had driven to North Carolina for no other reason than to give out free food and drink to hikers. They were planning to be there for the whole weekend. Jennifer was not feeling well, she had a bug of some kind, so she drank an orange soda and lay down on a tarp and took a long nap. I had a ham and cheese sandwich, some potato chips, a couple of Dr. Peppers, a moon pie, another sandwich, and had a real chair to set in while Jen slept.
Some angels had a simple set up, some more complex. Later in NC we came across a camp of angels. These were mostly middle aged men from Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia who all hiked the trail last year. They had a grill going and were fixing burgers and hot dogs, they had fruit, candy, chips, etc. and chairs to sit in. We rested and ate for a couple of hours there. One of the angels was a young man who grew up in and whose parents still live in Murray, not too far from our home.
One angel was a young man we met in the Smokey Mountains just before the weather got cold. He was hiking southbound with a box of Crispy Crème donuts and some homemade brownies. “Eat as many as you want,” he told us.
On the Tennessee-North Carolina border we met some angels who were pretty serious about it. Their hike had come about 7 years ago. They were so impressed with the trail and the people on the trail they purchased a home about 300 yards from the trail. Every day during the hiking season they opened their home with an invitation to hikers to come for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. In addition to the great food, we had waffles, stew, and apple pie, they offered counsel and prayer to each hiker. Their real purpose was akin to the purpose of Biblical angels, to share the really good news about Jesus Christ.
Jennifer and I have talked about our angel experience. We would like to go and give out trail magic. We had talked about it for next spring, but now we are thinking we will probably hike again for 3 or 4 weeks. Before we left Virginia we went by Wal Mart and purchased 4 boxes of Caprisun Lemonade and Cherryade along with Little Debbies and Honey Buns and took them to the trail where we left them for hikers. It was our small gift for all the kindness we had received.
The other effect it has had on us is our determination to live each day with more of a servant attitude. We experienced grace from these trail angels, we would like to give grace in return. It is much like our Christian experience. The forgiveness of sin and promise of heaven we have received for free from Jesus Christ, we would like to share with others so that they might have the same experience.
1 comment:
It is great to experience the grace of giving from others with nothing expected in return - a rarity in our age. The sad thing is we have to go somewhere special to do these grace acts when al too often one misses the opportunity right in front of them in thier own family, friends, neighbors, community & those around them nobody sees but are very needy. I am glad you & Jen were able to experience this.
Dave
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