Today’s find: Black Diamond

Heard from a friend that the Chubb Trail is a real gem, ideal for spotting fall foliage.

He didn’t mention that it’s a jewel of the “Black Diamond” variety. As in “Difficult” … offering “many opportunities to test your skills with steep climbs, loose rocks, drop-offs and tight switchbacks” according to the Ride MO Trails website.

Suffice it to say we didn’t get anywhere near the end of the Chubb, my Sweetie and I, as we made our little trek into the autumn wilderness yesterday. Turns out, even the first mile or so offered more than enough challenge for our weary bones.

More than enough beauty, too, as long as you don’t get too hung up on the notion of encountering a spectacular vista or two. The glory viewed on “our” section of the trail tended to come in smaller doses, up close and personal: a backlit spray of golden leaves; a tree-trunk-turned-obelisk, drawing the eye heavenward; a now-dry gorge studded with grey granite stones and boulders. 

It’s a bit bracing to consider how we – my Sweetie and I – have come to resemble this rugged autumn-scape. There was a time in our lives when a Black Diamond trail would not have seemed quite so intimidating. But we find ourselves in a different season today: Backlit. Most of our lives behind us. Once-rushing streams now run dry, or slowed to a trickle.

Of course, a clear benefit of taking a slower pace is the chance it gives you to turn the eye heavenward. To notice, along with the prophet Jeremiah, how the Lord has promised to accompany the faithful sojourner:

I will console them and guide them; I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble.

In our rush, in our busyness, we can become blind to that promise – so intent on making forward progress that we convince ourselves we have to conquer every tight-and-challenging switchback alone.

But when our gait slows, we gain a new perspective, engaging both eyes and ears. We are invited to see and hear the very same promise that Jeremiah experienced so clearly. A miracle unfolds in the midst of our Black Diamond journey, even if we tend to stumble and fall:

“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”

Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.

IHS