Musings on faith and life from an Alaska Lutheran pastor.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Hiking, Brevig-style

More from Brevig! One more excerpt from today. After our shared meal (spaghetti and salad, yum!) a few of us took a hike in the hills. The group was Eva, Ray, Heather, Merri Lynn and myself. We headed for the hills. No obstructed view here: the treeless tundra gives plenty of room to see what's ahead.

The path is non-descript; we just headed up through the tundra. The ground is uneven (as a result of freezing/thawing permafrost) and grass, shrubs and flowers lie over the bumpy earth. There's one "mountain" that's a favorite destination, but as we only had a couple of hours, we decided to go for a lesser "peak."

The sky was perfect deep blue, the Bering Sea an even deeper, more majestic color. We could see mountains in the distance with the slightest streaks of snow. Toward the top of the rise, the grassy tundra gave way to layered shale, a wash of skree to scramble up toward the ridge.

We stayed at the top for awhile to admire the view.

When we finished, we gathered at 10 PM for group meeting and devotionals. Dianne led us in a reading of Psalm 24...the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof...and she spoke of the fullness and beauty and abundance of this place. God's fullness is here in sky, sea, rolling hills, game and salmon.

Interesting: in a place with only one store, no bars, few places for employment, no theaters and the only entertainment is Bingo....we still intuit and see that this place is full. There is everything that is truly needed here: families living and working together, natural beauty, abundance of game and plants to eat. I always think differently about what is "enough" when I return from Brevig Mission.

1 comment:

pb said...

It's good to see you "finally" figured out the title part of this blogging thing. I hope you continue to have an amazing week in B.M. You will have to say "hi" to Brian & Penny for me, as well as Matt as you pass back through Nome.

Your story of watching a DVD reminded me of being out at Salmon Lake with some of the older kids and asking what they like to do for fun. A group of the boys said one of their favorite things was to IM and go into chat rooms online. However, they were also amused that they were most often asked if they had electricity. How else would they be online?

May you continue to enjoy the fullness of being in Brevig. Many blessings to you and your "crew", you will be in my prayers this week.