So I guess I can give you a summary of what I did in my last days of Yosemite. I was able to make it back to Tuolumne Meadows for one last hike. We hiked up to Elizabeth Lake which was a fairly easy hike, a round trip of about 5 miles, nothing too bad. The clouds that day were pretty crazy. It actually rained for once. But we managed to hike around the lake and eat our lunch before the storm clouds opened up on us. I also finally made it to Mariposa Grove to see the Giant Sequoias and they were incredibly big. I think the Grizzly Giant has about a thirty foot diameter, so yeah, pretty dang big. I also went up to Sentinel Dome and watched the meteor shower. You could see so many from up there it was unreal. There'd be like five shooting stars within the same second. And we ended up camping out which was pretty sweet. We watched the sunrise which was the only one I ever saw the whole summer and it was spectacular. And I know I'm not really describing these scenes very well but that's simply because they are really hard to describe. All this means is that you need to go there for yourself to experience it. So do it.
So, leaving Yosemite was really weird. I had been living there for three months and had really fallen in love with the mountains there as well as all other scenery and nature. But I really missed home and school and I knew I would never be able to live in Yosemite permenantly due to how temporary it felt living there with all the tourists and employees coming and going. It's a gorgeous place but I don't think of it as a home. So it was a little bitter-sweet in leaving. And I also made a good bit of friends there who hopefully I'll be able to catch up with in the future. I'm extremely glad I did this this summer. I really learned a lot. And speaking of that, here we go:
Not in any order that's important
1. When in a conversation about anything, and especially about matters concerning beliefs about God, listen, and I mean really listen. You have no idea how much affect you can have on a person if you would just here them out. You can put in your two cents in the conversation but just don't be pushy. If you listen to them, they'll listen to you. Simple concept, fairly easy to do, but not many people seem to do it, apparently. For example: I talked to this one guy who had been a Christian for fifteen years, did the whole youth pastor thing and the whole evangelism thing until he really looked into and started studying psychology. He then began to describe how everything that Christians experience from conversion to the moving of the Holy Spirit to discernment can be explained by psychology and how the mind works and interprets different energy movement and such. He kinda got into some pretty crazy sounding stuff, but I thought it was interesting so I listened. And I kept listening. And I got a little weary of some of the stuff but I kept listening while putting in some words here and there. What struck me was what he said at the end. He said that if he hadn't have gone through the things that he did to get him where he was, that he would have considered Christianity by the way I reacted during the conversation. So you never know when someone will actually look into Christianity by a response of non-judgmental, genuine interest.
2. People may tend to notice self-controlled use over absence of use. And I'll just give you the example because what I just said may not make sense. I know there's a lot of debate over the whole alcohol thing for a Christian. I do drink, I don't get drunk. And here's where my point comes in. Whenever I did drink, I would always only drink two beers at max, and never liquor. And those were my lines. And I really believe that people noticed more so that I only drank two beers and never got drunk than they would have noticed if I never drank at all, if that makes sense. Basically, they knew I never got drunk because I only ever would drink two beers. And it kinda got turned into a joke among some of the guys I drank with, which simply means it was noticed. I guess all I'm saying is that it doesn't take swearing off alcohol to convince someone you have self-control with alcohol.
3. A dip in the river can only suffice for a shower for two days in a row.
4. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves daily how beautiful something/someone is in order to not take it for granted. It got to the point that I would only glance briefly at Half Dome since I saw it everyday, but when I realized this I thought how dumb I was for doing this because it was so gorgeous. So from then on I tried to remind myself how beautiful it was and take more than a glance each time I saw it and try to soak it in more rather than taking it for granted seeing as how I wouldn't always be there. And that went for basically everything in Yosemite. And when I actually really looked at anything in Yosemite, I really couldn't help but stare for atleast a little bit.
5. Bouldering is extremely fun as well as scary and might make you cuss.
6. I actually found it easy to love people outside of the comfort zone of Christian surroundings. Seeing as how I have always been surrounded by Christians and people who grew up Christian, I never have really lived among people who were not religious. But in Yosemite most people there were not Christians. Most people just didn't really believe in anything. Some were homosexuals. There was a decent size drug scene. In general it was just a whole lot different than anywhere I had ever lived. I felt like this was the first time I had been "in the world." But in the middle of it all, I didn't have a real problem with loving anybody. And I found that really refreshing that I could as easily love those that were not my brothers and sisters as I could love my brothers and sisters. Imagine that.
7. Most people are willing to accept that there is a creator but not that the creator is personal. I found this to be the case a lot. So if we can find an easy way to connect the two then maybe they'll be more inclined to entertain the thought.
8. Sometimes the most effective ministering is just hanging out with people.
9. When doing an extremely hard hike, when taking a rest DO NOT CLOSE YOUR EYES or you might just fall asleep. Did it. However, a nap on the summit is always recommended.
10. When somebody asks you to do something with them and you don't have anything to do (and it doesn't involve anything evil) then do it. That's how I got into bouldering and it's awesome. Plus you get to hang out some more rather than doing nothing.
And there's more stuff but I'll just leave it at that.
There was one thing that one of my friends said to me that kinda stuck. He said "You know how to treat the world." And I think that's the best compliment I have ever gotten. He was drunk when he said this, but I hope there's truth to it.
And so, that's the end of that. But I do plan on going back to the west, probably Denver after I graduate from here. I really need to get back to the mountains.
Sequoia Trees
Unicorn Creek on the way to Elizabeth Lake
Sunrise from Sentinel Dome
