Date: 2006-06-30
To: A Unity of Mind and Body
Miles today: 0.0

"I read about the Eastern Orthodox pilgrim who walked thousands and thousands of miles across old Russia chanting to himself...he aimed to internalize the prayer, to make it resonate with his heartbeat so that in every breath he would sense the presence of Jesus. Measuring his mercies into his stride, into his breath, into his pulse, he aimed to free himself from awareness of the self and its limited concerns and desires." excerpt from _Where the Roots Reach for Water: A Personal and Natural History of Melancholia_ by Jeffery Smith (for those J. D. Salinger fans out there, this is the pilgrim mentioned in his book, _Franny and Zooey_) I recently went to Shabbos dinner at a co-worker's house. My co-worker's friend, a rabbi, was talking about how physical movement is closely tied to worship in the Jewish faith, particularly in the practice of Davidic dance. I took note of this phenomena as everyone at the table swayed while they sang and prayed. This attention paid to movement made me think of the infamous whirling dervishes. The dervishes are Turkish Sufis (there are some who practice in the United States) who got their name because of the Sema, a ritual dance that involves, as you may have already guessed, a whole lot of whirling. For most Americans, worship and movement are two activities to be kept separate. Yes, there's a certain amount of stand-kneel-sit-repeat in many religious services, but the exuberant unity of motion and spirituality is predominantly absent from the way we worship (though, since the mid 1900s, many Christians have lost their belief of dance's connection to Paganism...).   Walking long distances has long been integrated into the phys ed facet of worship, with spiritual pilgrims, Shakers, and Labyrinths being just a few examples that come to mind. Bruce Chatwin, the ex-Sotheby's employee turned writer (now deceased) has many wonderful things to say about the necessity of motion for our souls in his book, _The Songlines_. He goes so far as to claim that many modern social and spiritual mishaps could be avoided if our population was more transient. Of course, there are larger socio-economic implications which stem from being on the move (a large one being the necessary loss of property). But going for a long walk may be a good starting point and the rest falls tidily into place. After discussing movement at Shabbos dinner, the rabbi said it's a shame that people don't know how to make things with their hands anymore. I think what he was getting at was the disconnect between mind and body that contemporary society has slipped in to. Our world is kept in little compartments, a sort of highly evolved division of labor; the mind here, the body there, and spirituality seemingly absent from our day to day routine. I thought of these things as I hiked this past week. When I walk, my mind starts to move with my body. I am, to use the cliche, "in good spirits" when I hike (even with blisters and sore muscles). Who knew that hikers, dervishes, and mystical jews has so much in common? I just hiked a stretch of the AT between Rt. 22 and the Friary in order to edit the AT Companion. And, let me tell you, a lot can happen on the trail in five days time. One evening, I hiked into a clearing in the woods near a dirt road. I set my tent up and, about two hours later, a load of pick up trucks rolled in with kegs and camp chairs and it turned into a full blown bonfire party in the mountains hosted by the locals. Everyone thought it was a riot that I had walked there over the mountains with my house on my back and they fed me and gave me cold beer (do you know how good a cold beer tastes after walking for days in 90 percent humidity? It's pretty great). Another night, RPH shelter was infiltrated by search and rescue guys looking for two lost men on the mountain. Crazy. I also met a lot of great thru-hikers such as Wrongturn, Posey Picker, Sandman, Ol' Graceful, Snapper, Long Haul, and others and got to meet trail angel extraordinaire, Socks (NOBO '05), who was handing out cold drinks and home made cookies. I brought Wrongturn back to the city with me where he crashed for a few days to rest and explore the city before getting a cheap bus to Boston to see family before getting back on the trail. I like that people do this sort of stuff for one another up and down the trail. If you need a place to stay, another hiker will put you up. Same goes for food, money, car rides, medical care, gear, etc. It's called "trail magic" (good phenomena, really corny name)...just one of the many amazing things about the Appalachian Trail.