Peace through community…
In this episode we journey back to (I think) 1995, where a group of friends I grew up with and our youth leader from the local Quaker meeting we all went to went on an epic journey to the summit of Mt. St. Helens, and skied down what took us nearly 10 hours (I can’t remember exact times, but it was WAY too long due to some of us not really being in shape for the trip, and BARELY making it by Jay (youth leader) dragging extra gear up the last stretch) in about, oh, 30 minutes.
Somewhere there is a photo of me standing by myself, taken right after I captured this image, and I am holding up one ski. And this is where the story occurred. After reaching the summit, eating an amazing sandwich on the rim and thinking how much cooler it would be to ski into the volcano, we geared up, strapped into our skis, and hit the face. Well, I actually “hit” the face by barreling down the first 200 yards pulling very wide turns due to skyrocketing speeds. At 200 yards I began to wonder how everyone else was enjoying the ride, and when upon looking back I realized how far down I had reached, I decided to stop and wait. Bad idea. Due to gravitational forces at that velocity I was catapulted from the mountain face when the inside of my ski edge caught and whipped me free from any sense of direction I might have had. Flying through the air, landing on my backpack, having all things attached to me ascend into the heavens, repeating the flying motion, and then rolling to a halt, I found myself amazingly in one piece. The binding on my right ski, however, was not feeling as hot, and I in fact had to ride the rest of the mountain with one ski on my backpack, and one on my left foot. I quickly became the “camera man” who took pictures of the other skiers dropping off cornices and such for the remainder of the journey. At first this was very frustrating, but by the end of the trip I was actually able to do a few jumps and land on one leg.
All in all it was an amazing experience, one I look back on fondly. The sense of community on this trek created a feeling of peace, and I reflect on this moment as a gift on my journey. To have friends with whom you can journey, laugh, live, and love life is an amazing gift. I’m grateful for the ways this sense of peace is lived out currently in the various communities I am now involved in, glad I can laugh at more episodes and lessons in humility, and appreciative of the people I can laugh with.
You might also note that of the four guys in the picture, only one is smiling. No guesses as to who had the least amount to carry on the way up…
by Joel
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