Ruin is a gift….. maybe even a way to transformation!
I had a flash back today…
It was 4 years ago and I was in the mountains of China with
my first World Race Squad! I separated
my self from the group by hiking ahead.
I wanted to be alone on the trail!
I was a wilderness guide by profession prior to the race and I hadn’t
experienced being in the wilderness for some time! Just me and the sound of my
feet hitting the ground coupled with the sound of the crisp cold air hurting “so
good” as it went in and out my lungs!
Except I was in a land I had never known before: It was the dead of winter and I was
hiking a mountain toward the Great Wall of China! I pushed ahead all the stronger as I could see I was getting
closer! I wanted to be the first person to set foot on the Great-Wall!
And so I was! I
stood on the broken ruins of one of the “world wonders” and I couldn’t see a
person in site! It was a section of the wall that tourists don’t go to. It wasn’t restored, it was falling a
part and beautiful!
I ended up hiking a few miles on the Great-Wall that day!
It was a day I didn’t think much of….
I didn’t plan on going to see the Great Wall when I knew I’d
be going to China! I wasn’t on
vacation! I didn’t expect it, I
just found myself there!
Teammates of mine actually paid my way there because I
couldn’t afford the transportation!
How does that happen?
We marvel at the ruins of Europe, Peru, and China to name a
few. So many ruins actually turn
into beautiful foundations!
We almost pay homage to the history without even thinking
about it. There is something regal
and attractive to historic sites in the world.
Maybe it reminds us of how little time we have actually
spent on the earth. Maybe it
reminds us of how so many before us paved the way and reminds us of the
potential that lives inside us!!
What a tremendous gift life is! What a memory I had almost forgotten! To be in a land I had
only seen in movies and read about in books!
