Love Thy Neighbor

Who gets really excited when you are getting ready to do something you enjoy? I do! I do! Even at fifty-eight years old, sometimes I get so excited about things I become unproductive. It's like a positive panic attack. I have to stop, breathe, and refocus. That's where I am at right now. Tomorrow begins Trails End Festival in Millinocket, Maine. I love anything to do with the Appalachian Trail and can't wait to go.

While, the festival celebrates all trails including multiuse trails, my focus is on the A.T. and I hope to see some thru-hikers and other Appalachian Trail fans while at my booth. That got me to thinking of what is it that keeps drawing me to the A.T. - a freqeuently asked question by my readers. It's simple - the people, the community. The trail draws people from all over the world, from different backgrounds, from different religions, from different political views, and whatever variant you can think of. The trail is a huge melting pot, a kaleidoscope of mankind and for the most part, we all get along. Our individual journeys and struggles bind us with invisible ties forming a community like no other. It's almost cult like.

Pondering on my love for the A.T. and realizing I forgot to write today's post last night - because I was focused on the festival - I was fretting about what to write. I sat down in front of my computer but my brain was on overdrive, and that's without coffee. I couldn't hone in on one topic. My thoughts bounced from creating more art for the festival, to breakfast, to what are the kids doing this weekend, to how are my in-laws, to the mess our country is in. No coherent ideas surfaced. But my love for the Appalachian Trail community popped in my head more frequently than the rest.

Thinking of trail love immediately made me think of love they neighbor which immediately made me think of the mess our country is in. That made me think of the election. No, don't worry, this isn't a political post. There is enough of that garbage out there. But, you have to agree that our country is becoming divided and we are not loving each other. The USA is another huge melting pot of different people. I just wish we could all get along no matter what political party we belong to.

Leviticus 19:18 says Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Even if you don't believe in the Bible, this is still good advice. Just because we disagree with another person, doesn't mean we can't still love them and be kind to them and get along. We shouldn't let political affiliations get in the way of neighborly love. Because when it comes down to a crisis, it's not the government who will be there for us, it will be the person on our left and the person on our right, the person in front of us and the person behind us that we will turn to.

I guess that's why I love the A.T. so much - there is a neighborly love that spans all divisions. With fifty-four days left until election day, lets all keep in mind that no matter who is placed into office - we the people matter the most.

Happy Hiking,

Emily