The Mountain: The Journey Begins
Imagine this…you are lying down, you quickly sit up, feeling that you are in an unfamiliar place, you quickly open your eyes and take a look around the room. You soon realize you are in a cabin. You look outside the window and you realize that you are in the wilderness. Suddenly, there is a knock on the door. You crack open the door and peak your head out. A park ranger appears and he hands you a manual.
He says “Good Morning, you’ll need this”
You return a confused look. Walking away, the man tips his hat, wishes you good luck, and says that he will meet you at the top. Looking down at the manual you realize that it’s not a manual at all but a map.
“A map for what?” you say
You open the map fully and realize that it outlines the topography of a huge mountain.
You say “I didn’t remember seeing a mountain?”
but then you look out the back window and your eyes are astonished as they gaze upon this mountain which is like nothing you have ever seen before. The peak extends beyond the clouds and the base of the mountain extends as far as your eyes can see in every direction.
Then you hear a voice from deep inside you “Take up your Cross, and follow me”.
You know at this point you must climb the mountain but the question still remains, how will you do it? You’ve never climbed a hill in your life before let alone a mountain.
In frustration and confusion you shake your head in disbelief. When you turn around to go get a drink off the table you are stunned. A backpack, just like the one you took to World Youth Day, is sitting there waiting for you. However, it is not just an empty backpack, it is filled to the brim with supplies.
You bend down, undo the drawstring, unzip the bag, and start to unpack objects from what seems like a bottomless pit. Surely this bag is far too heavy to carry up a mountain for this long journey and you even question what you will need half of these items for. Just then you look up at the clock and realize that it is time to climb. You go to the door and begin to lace up your hiking boots, put on your jacket, grab your camino stick, and open the door.
However, when you open the door you stop, put your hands on your hips, and take a deep breath. The day is clear, the air is fresh, you feel a gentle breeze on your face. When you turn towards the breeze you see that your cabin is not the only one. In fact, there are hundreds of other cabins that fade away in the distance. Strangely enough you see everyone is outside their cabin standing in the same position as you with their arms on their hips, hiking boots on, and a huge knapsack at their feet.
It is at this point that you realize that you are not alone on this journey to the top. Fear, excitement, and uncertainty fill you.
You notice that the other hikers are beginning to gather at the foot of the mountain. As you talk to them you all start to realize that everyone is trying to make it to the top. However, you soon realize that you each have a different game plan. Some feel it is best to make the journey alone but others feel more comfortable travelling as a group.
Just then, the Park Ranger mysteriously appears again and as usual he is not empty handed. He begins to hand out what looks like a glorified Kleenex but as he gets closer it becomes clear what it is. It is a bandana.
The ranger reaches into his bag to give you your bandana but before he does he leans in close. He begins to tie it around the strap of your knapsack and as he does so he whispers
“Wear this bandana and wear it proudly as it is a marker to all that you are on this journey to the top, Verso L’Alto”.
I look up to ask the Ranger what he means by journey to the top but all I see is clear skies and a sign in the dirt which says
"Length of Journey: 40 days"
