The above picture is of the common area in the hut. The staff worker pictured is checking the sign-in roster regarding the numbers she has to cook dinner for. She is standing at the hut 'store' where one can purchase t-shirts, hats, pins, a toothbrush, and the like. Behind her is the kitchen, to the left is the 'library' and in the foreground is the dining area.
The hut holds 40 people, 26 of which were in our hiking group. Before meals are served, I ask people to join me in offering a prayer of thanks - thanks for bringing us safely through the days's hike, thanks for the hospitality of the 'crew', thanks for the meal, and to ask His blessing upon us all. Over the years, many 'through-hikers' (those who are not part of our group but are staying overnight and continuing on in the morning) have mentioned how nice it is to have someone lead a simple prayer before meals. To me, if you cannot feel a closeness to our Lord in those mountains, you'll never feel a closeness to Him.
This year, after offering a prayer before breakfast, a woman who had come in late for dinner the night before, approached me and said she felt offended by my prayer, and that if I wanted to do such a thing, I should include only those in our group, that not all people have the same beliefs. She obviously was looking for a 'conversation/argument', one which I felt was neither warranted nor appropriate at that time. So I simply said to her, 'Point taken!'
This became the topic of conversation on our hike out that morning, and at the campsite over the weekend. One gentleman who was not in our group, who was a Baptist by faith, approached me before we left and suggested I not let those kinds of sentiments get me down, that what we need today is more people giving witness to their faith. I suggested that what is happening in today's society, as more and more of the vocal minority make it an issue, is a 'freedom FROM religion'. Unfortunately, these people think the founders of our country gave us freedom FROM religion, when in fact they gave us freedom OF religion.
There is a huge difference between the two. As Rabbi Harold Kushner says in his great book 'Who Needs God', every human being has an innate need to know there is a greater power that guides and governs us. Everyone, he says, has a psychological need to know we can turn things over to someone greater than us, especially when they are out of control for us. So we all need religion, because that is how we connect with our God. HOW we connect is up to us. We can choose our religion, for there are different paths that lead to the same end.
We also need to be tolerant of others and the path they have chosen. If someone is praying in their tradition, offering a silent prayer in our heart in the manner in which we pray would be appropriate. It should not offend us that someone is praying in a different way. Rather we should unite our prayer with theirs. After all, we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord!
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