Looking up, I saw another canoe approaching the landing near where I had dropped my borrowed Duluth sack and "loose" gear. I was stretching my body and mind before the paddle back to the links with the "other world". Lost in thought, feeling the excitement of nearly completing my first solo wilderness canoe trip, I don't remember my answer.

I know now that I had traveled "farther" than at any other time in my life but not because of the distance paddled and walked. While planning this trip I must admit that the measurement of distance using rubber bands, string and a map wheel was almost ritualistic. Yet by the time I reached that landing on my last day, I no longer measured distance in miles or portage trails over which I had to carry my canoe and gear from lake to lake or around rapids too difficult to paddle.

Each of us face life that is somehow defined for us by others or by other factors. Sometimes those definitions are enhancements while at other times we find ourselves confused by the ideas or limiting framework which others provide. We often get drawn into a pace or a way of life which is detrimental to life itself. Much of life for western society has become a rush. At times it is a headlong rush toward an unclear horizon which shrouds any goal which may have been seen at one time.

While navigating white water stretches it often is necessary to position the canoe with a "back ferry" or by paddling in such a way as to force the canoe to go slower than the current. At times the proper positioning of the canoe is a matter of determining to not give in to the urge to "rush" with the current. When asked what was the most important piece of advice he could give, mountaineer and wilderness preservation advocate Harvey Manning responded, "Slow down."

I find it interesting that respected Canadian canoeist, the late Bill Mason, included Biblical quotations in one of his most well received canoe videos, Waterwalker. When I read the prophets' words or the challenge of God to "Be still and know that I am God", I am put on notice that evidencing the character of God requires me to stop in my tracks, shed many of the values which this world champions and change my pace.

... written as the direct result of my first solo paddle back in '83 ... David G. Pile (Jester)