I rarely get to do spontaneous, early-in-the-week alterations to my routine. My to-do lists for the different days of the week are fairly uniform—at least the basics. I record the Morning Light broadcasts for the following week on Monday mornings. Then I’ll do some preliminary study for the week’s preaching/teaching opportunities. The afternoons involve some reading, administrative tasks, and other light duties.
Because of how things worked out last week, I was able to record the Morning Light broadcasts on Friday. That freed up some time on Monday, so I got a good jump start on this week’s work. Nice when that happens!
Tuesday brought with it a beautiful harbinger of Spring. The weather forecast called for sunny skies, no chance of rain, and temps in the low 50s.
A great day for a hike!
Almost always, when that happens, I’m looking at the conditions through my study window, wishing it were Saturday—my normal day off.
But this Tuesday, I saw some flexibility in the schedule, so my bride and I decided to take a rare mid-week break to get in a hike. After taking care of some important ministry, in the late morning, we headed to Starved Rock State Park near Utica, IL.
Starved Rock is one of the best and most popular parks in the state, and often it’s quite busy—too busy for our liking. When we want to head in that direction, we usually opt for the smaller Matthiessen State Park, just a few miles from Starved Rock. It has some nice trails, good waterfalls, and beautiful scenery. I’ve seen Starved Rock so busy, in fact, that they close the park because there’s no more parking available—and there’s tons of parking!
Anyway, thinking the park wouldn’t be too busy on a Tuesday in late March, we wanted to give it a shot. After all, we have some 40+-year-old memories of the place, having gone there in high school. Besides, the park boasts several canyons with cascading waterfalls, beautiful look-out points over the Illinois River where you can watch the barges go by, and maybe, just maybe, spot a bald eagle or two. Oh, and lots of hiking trails—some are fairly challenging, by Illinois standards.
We arrived a little past noon and decided to hike from the visitor center to Hennepin Canyon overlook—about 8 ½ miles round trip. Incidentally, we’ve hiked in a fair number of state parks and other places. I think Starved Rock would get the trophy for having the most stairs.
Lots and lots of stairs! And more stairs!
For the most part, the sharp peaks on the graph represent stairs to climb.
The first set leads to Starved Rock itself. Wonder where the name comes from? Legend has it that a couple of warring Indian tribes—the Illinois and the Potawatomi– got in a fight, and the Illinois sought refuge atop this rock. Problem was, the Potawatomi had them surrounded, and the Illinois couldn’t get supplies—so they starved to death in their place of refuge.
Not a very reliable refuge, that rock.
Quite unlike the Refuge spoken of in the Psalms, isn’t it?
As Psalm 31 begins, David prays,
“In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!”
Instead of praying for refuge, in Psalm 62, David declares God is that place of salvation:
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my might rock, my refuge is God.”
No “Starved Rock” for the psalmist or for those, like him, who will trust in and wait for His salvation.
French Canyon
From that melancholy place with its impressive views, we followed the trail as it led into French Canyon, past Pontiac Canyon, overlooking Wildcat Canyon and then Basswood Canyon and Lonetree Canyon. Then the trail follows along the river’s edge for quite a while before climbing back up a grueling set of stairs to Owl Canyon. After four miles, the trail ended (for us) at Hennepin Canyon Overlook.
LaSalle Canyon
On the way back, we mostly retraced our steps but took a side trail into LaSalle Canyon, rewarding us with the prettiest views of the day. The waterfall flowed nicely, and the sun shone through the canyon, illuminating the stream and spotlighting a gurgling pool.
At this point, the afternoon was getting away from us, so along the way I opted for a shortcut. From the start, we were following an AllTrails mapped hike. From this, we deviated.
And my phone dinged at me.
“An emergency?” I wondered.
No…it was just a message from AllTrails:
I ignored the warning, and we ventured on. After a few minutes, we intersected with the designated trail again, but saved ourselves some time.
I got to thinking about that “warning.” If I hadn’t known what I was doing and were unwittingly getting off trail, it could spell trouble. People have died going off trail and getting lost or falling off a cliff!
And this reminded me of a healthy, biblically informed conscience activated by God the Holy Spirit.
Think about it.
How many times do we begin to stray from the “way of the Lord” (as in Psalm 1:2), and not our phone, but our Spirit-activated conscience dings and sends a message:
“Check Navigator to make sure you are on your planned route.”
Ever discovered that if you ignore the message, it doesn’t turn out well? Too many times for me.
Ever stopped yourself, checked your heading and the “map,” turned around, and returned to the right path?
Then paused, looked up, and said, “Thanks!”
One big difference between AllTrails and a Spirit-activated, biblically informed conscience. AllTrails can’t read your mind…thought processes…legitimate course changes, so it can send needless warnings. Not so, God’s Spirit. He knows fully what’s going on in your mind and heart—and His warnings are never to be ignored.
Well, back on the right path, we carried on without incident back to the car, a bit tired but grateful for the gifts of the day and the lessons along the way.
