Each year, at the conference pastors’ and spouse retreat in Alberta, Lori and I join with some friends to hike to the Agnes Lake Tea House above Lake Louise in Banff. There is just enough time to drive from Canmore to Lake Louise, hike to the top, have a cup of tea, return to the car, and drive back in order to make it for the evening worship service. It’s become a yearly tradition which we have shared with several different groups of people.
Each part of the journey has its own beauty. In fact, there are several places that we could stop along the way and feel like it was worth the trip without going any further. The drive through Banff is beautiful and is enjoyable in and of itself. Many would be satisfied just taking the time to go to Lake Louise and stand next to the beautiful, bright- blue glacier infused water surrounded by the towering mountains. And there is one spot about halfway up that could be considered the destination. You have a view up above the lake and it is amazing. You can see how high you have gone, and the colour is even more amazing from above. Some of our guests have said that was far enough and turned around there.
Interestingly enough, once you pass that spot on the hike to the Tea House, the hike changes. You don’t have any more views of Lake Louise -the only other lake you see along the path is really just a small little pond that sometimes has some nice reflections of the hills around it. You spend a lot of time simply slogging through the forest until you come upon some steep stairs. It is different from that halfway point on, but if we keep heading toward the destination and we are rewarded with a delicious cup of tea and a nice cookie next to Agnes Lake!
In a metaphorical sense, that first lookout point is where we are as a church right now. We have been climbing for a while and we have noticed how beautiful things have been. In the celebration we took the time to look back from whence we came. We celebrated 50 years of the church, and it has been beautiful. The view back has been good and for some that has been far enough. But we are called to move past that point. We aren’t on this hike just to look back on where we have gone, but to continue to push in toward the destination. Or as Paul says in Philippians, We “press on toward the goal…” which isn’t to be successful (or beautiful) as a church but to move toward “the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” That sounds better than the cookies and tea!
So, the “hike” from this point on might seem tedious at times. We might experience some difficult days. It might be hard work. We might want to turn around or give up. We might want to return to the beauty of the early days, but that isn’t why we are on the hike. We are on the hike to be who God has called us to be and to do what God has called us to do. We have said all through this that this celebration isn’t just about the past 50 years… but for the next 50! Let’s hike on together!!
