“It’s all downhill from here!”
A happy exclamation to hear when I’m out on my mountain bike. But in a few days on my next birthday? Not so much…lol.
I love the South Downs where we live. Hiking or running are not easy just now. Last October I broke my ankle, in what my physio sniggeringly refers to as “the pinecone incident”. He is actually very good, and understands my desire to get back out there, so I forgive his cheek and laugh with him at being so comically felled. I am looking forward to getting over this injury, making progress.
Nevertheless, I admit an inevitable decline one day. I’m not sure when my prime was exactly. But eventually it will truly be ‘downhill all the way from here.’ Not a cheery reality, and a thought I like to push away, being a glass half full kind of person.
I’m certainly not about to start faffing about with hair dye to hide the decline or fill in the wrinkles or whatever. But my ankle is undeniably taking ages to heal compared to when I was younger.
Meantime I still daydream about the various routes I’d like to hike, cycle, or better yet horse-ride if that was on offer.
The whole of the south west coast path, the coast of Ireland, the Pennine way.
Travel programmes give me wanderlust, I wouldn’t mind Simon Reeve’s job. My current novel about Algeria and Morocco has given those countries an appeal. I’d like to revisit East Africa, and Darjeeling in the Himalayas. Trek around Nepal, horse ride through Tuscany.
More than sight-seeing, I fancy the experience of settling and living in those places. All of them.
First, a smallholding in rural England.
With a few chickens, perhaps a pig and a few goats, growing more of our own fruit & veg, tending the land and livestock,developing the place as one season follows another. Hard work, but satisfying progress from year to year. Heavenly, in my imagination.
These are all things I would put on my bucket list, places to go, lifestyles to live.
Not to be pessimistic, but it won’t all fit.
I’d need eternity.
And I’d need the eternal energy of youthfulness. Hair dye would not help.
Easter gives me great hope for my overly optimistic bucket list. Rather than talking about people ‘going to heaven’ the Bible talks of ‘heaven coming to earth’. A recreation of paradise, on earth. Jesus, resurrected at Easter, the first one born into this new exciting possibility. Defeating death and decay, not by cheating death with a narrow escape, but by going through it and out the other side.
"I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.”
Jesus said these words to Mary, sister of Lazarus, shortly before Easter. After death, resurrection, and life.
I am glad that Jesus said so much about resurrection and defeating death before ‘giving a demo’ to back up his words, on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
It gives me a concrete reason for my hope.
This new creation that will be brought to earth is described in breath-taking beauty:
“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl.
The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.
The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone.
Down the middle of the great street of the city, flowed the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
On each side of the river stood the tree of life… and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
And this beautiful place is populated too:
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man,
and He will dwell with them.
They will be His people,
and God Himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,
for the former things have passed away.”
(Extracts from the Bible, final two chapters)
Hopefully, you have seen a glimpse, why Easter is such great good news to me.
Sooner than I would like, it will be ‘downhill all the way from here’.
But I believe that in Jesus there is resurrection and eternal life on earth; trekking, small-holdings, mountain biking, the lot!
Is that a hope that could arouse your interest?