Читать книгу Extreme Walking - Tom de Bruin - Страница 5

One of my brothers is named Paul. He enjoys life. There never is a moment that he cannot free up for something exciting, but he never has time for boring things. My parents still talk about the greatest miracle that they have ever witnessed: Paul completing high school. Paul is so busy enjoying the small things that he forgets to work on useless things like money or his career. He’s too busy smelling the roses to care that he’s off the beaten path.

Naturally, he is my hero.

Paul has many more peculiarities. He refused to wear shoes until we moved to a country where it regularly froze. He would go barefoot everywhere—school, town, university, church. He wasn’t able to survive in the Northern European climate of deadlines and clothing restrictions, so he moved to the Canary Islands. The Spanish culture of doing things mañana, without specifying which mañana, suits him perfectly.

Paul also really likes to go on walks, but no one wants to go with him. At least . . . not a second time. On the weekends, when his wife suggests they go for a walk, his daughters will always ask: “Are you choosing the route, or is Dad?” The reason for this is that Paul doesn’t like paths. They are boring, because they are known. He’s seen them already. When you go on a walk with Paul, his exploratory spirit takes over. He sees interesting and exciting things in the distance: a mountaintop, a tree, an odd-shaped rock. Interesting things that, of course, are very far away from the walkers, and far away from any type of path. Paul sees these things and cannot curtail his curiosity. He simply has to walk there.

So, there we would go. A left turn into the ravine. Keep on straight through the swamp. None of that matters! There is something interesting just ahead. If you go walking with Paul, you know for certain that you will return with dirty clothing, and probably with some minor wounds too. Naturally, you will be absolutely exhausted. One time we were even arrested! But you also know that you will never again see the places you used to go to in the same light. Your worldview will have changed, forever.

Walking with Paul is not necessarily what I would call fun. It’s exhausting, tiring, and terrifying. It is also very hard work. But you go anyway, because you see more than you would ever have thought possible. It is more impressive, more powerful than you ever could have imagined. As you grab adventure by the hand, step off the road and leave all well-known paths behind, you see things better. You experience things more deeply. In the end, you enjoy things much more.

This book is about being a Paul. Not as a walker (though I would surely advise doing that sometime too), but as a Christian and a theologian. As Christians, we know the Bible well, some of us know it very well. That is the path we walk over our entire lives. And, let’s be clear, there is nothing wrong with that. That path is familiar, it is safe, and it leads us closer to Jesus. But, what happens if we look outside of the path? Are there any odd-shaped rocks, interesting trees, inviting mountaintops? Yes, there are: in this case other books written by Jews and Christians in the same times. These books are sources of additional knowledge and understanding. Do we need to be afraid that we will lose our way if we go out on discovery? By no means! We will experience things in a new way, and we needn’t fear. The path is always near and safety is always just one bookcase away. We might take a longer route, and we might even have to cross a swamp, but we will always end up on the path, at the Bible.

In this book, we will walk together. We will see things—just as Paul does—in the distance, and then we will have to step off the path and head that way. We will be curious. We will go on a voyage of discovery. We will boldly explore far away from any paths, even if it means we return home tired, bruised, and maybe even with a minor scratch or two. We will return as changed people, no longer able to look at where we have been with the same eyes.

There! I see something interesting, not far off the path. I’m going to explore. Join me?