Dear Friends,
There are many ways to celebrate Independence Day. We will probably go to a local celebration. But perhaps we will also do some exploring of this amazing land. We often hear about people taking road-trips to explore America and this may well be something we will have to do as a family. If I was travelling alone, it would probably be by bus or train, but with five or six of us, it may have to be in a van, car or RV in order to see the places we just have to see.
When I was serving in my first parish, I joined the John Muir Trust to help preserve the wilderness of Scotland. And through this, I read about John Muir, the naturalist, writer and advocate for US forest conservation. He was largely responsible for the establishment of the Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park in California. Together with other conservationists, he founded the Sierra Club in 1892. Muir was born on April 21, 1838 in Dunbar in East Lothian in Scotland. At the age of nine, he emigrated with his family to live in Portage, Wisconsin.
After nearly losing his eye in an industrial accident in 1867, he abandoned his career in industy to devote his life to nature. Walking from the Mid-West to the Gulf of Mexico, a journey of about a thousand miles. Then, after his death in 1914, the book, “A Thousand Mile Walk” to the Gulf was published in 1916.
In honor of John Muir, the Scottish Government created a long distance footpath from Helensburgh in the west of Scotland, across the country to his birthplace in Dunbar. And one year, after attending the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh, I set out to walk home to the Scottish west Highlands along the newly opened John Muir Way. Staying with family and friends along the way, I got half way home before realizing that I was carrying too much stuff on my back and had to take a bus to finish the journey. This week, we learn that Jesus sent the disciples out with no baggage to help them travel light and learn about dependence on God’s provision.
Perhaps this Independence Day and Weekend, we might take a short walk on the wild side. But the great thing about this country in which we live is that we are never far from a wild place and the beauty of Creation. And all we will need to carry is our picnic lunch and some water.
Happy 4th of July.
Pastor Cliff