Into the near outskirts of Riceville and the road morphs back into its standard, thin-shouldered & heavily-trafficked version. To make things even more challenging, the day’s heat escalated and my thirst along with it. I passed though the town of Riceville proper without stopping (for whatever unexplainable reason), only to realize – with no small […]
“Come here, and allow me to share a bit of wisdom. Have you given much thought today to your permanently mortal condition? Probably not. Why would you? And yet listen: All mortal beings – you included – have been given a great gift by death. For there’s no one alive today who can say with […]
“God does not play dice with the Universe; instead He plays an ineffable game of His own devising – one which might be compared, from the perspective of any of its other players [i.e. all of us], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room; a poker game […]
It was excessively hot on this particular day (or maybe I was simply excessively susceptible on that day to the same), and I found myself regularly (and often quite loudly) thanking each & every shading cloud that passed overhead – all while simultaneously vowing to walk onward for Love & Truth & Justice nonetheless, whether […]
And then I made it smoothly enough into the town of Calhoun, where “The Between Center” appropriately marked the halfway point of the days’ prospective journey … “Avoid ever clinging to the shore, my friends, but rather choose to set sail for new lands and visions no longer found on maps. Blaze new trails thereto […]
The small town of Charleston was next encountered, where Darlene & Wendy of the Hiawasee River Heritage Center provided me with a lovely ladling of friendly conversation, generous kindness, and emotional encouragement … “The only real voyage we must ever make consists not in seeking new landscapes, but rather in having new eyes; in seeing […]
“Yes, it is true that all of us – indeed, all sentient beings – are essentially alone. No other being will ever completely feel like we do or think like we do or act like we do. Each of us is perfectly unique, and our underlying aloneness is the other side of that uniqueness. The […]
How wonderful it was to be blessed with even just a few miles of smooth sidewalk on this, what would turn out to be the very last morning of my Journey … “And as I walked I wondered – were they, my fellow humans; mostly hustling and bustling about their busy, mostly self-absorbed lives – […]
Actually, if “Satan” is ever found to be knocking on your door, Jesus himself – along with all of human history’s other great & noble Wise Ones – would have you answer that door yourself; with boldness in your hands, and compassion in your heart … “Why is everyone still trying to find out whether […]
“The man who would – and will – move a mountain must ever begin by carrying away small stones … And so it is with pilgrims and pilgrimages – with the former only fulfilling the latter one small step at a time. Indeed, the deepest beauty of any Great Walk is in the walking thereof. […]
I then made it through the town of Cleveland proper and eventually came to Marvin’s Tire Shop by the left-hand side of the road; a surprisingly peaceful place, where customer Michael offered me directions towards Chattanooga and employee Jorge offered me some water and an ice-cold Spite for the road … “Our culture emphasizes independence […]
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