The Men of Iron Minute

by Chad Zueck | Director of Content Creation

Looking for Glory

When my son was a junior in high school, he and I needed to go on a father/son backcountry hiking trip. Life was crazy busy, and time was growing short before his graduation, so we set out for a week’s journey into the wilderness during spring break. We planned to do a 50ish-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail. Springtime is the time of year when northbound thru-hikers leave from the southern tip of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia to hike 2,200 miles to Maine. We loved the trip and talk as if we were two days into our sweaty and exhausting excursion. Many things stand out to me, but none more than the types of people who try to hike from Georgia to Maine. Men, women, kids, and even animals, start with a head of steam, and some lose hope and head home within a day, while some others see the approximately 165,000 trail markings that guide the way and make it to Mount Katahdin’s Baxter Peak in Baxter State Park (Maine). Most hikers use the trail as a week-long adventure rather than a six-month excursion. We enjoyed listening to hiking fables and questionable tales.

A common theme amid the diversity of weary travelers is a search for something. They look for a spark in life, a new start, and a fresh blade of aspiration to push through stagnant and sad lives. For us, each day would end at a shelter, and shelters were meeting spaces for most hikers. A dozen hikers would huddle around the campfire for food, fable, and companionship. We came to appreciate fellow hikers and their shared interest in all things outdoors, and even so, we felt sorrow for those who would never find what they were truly looking for. For example, one man was desperate to lose weight and recover from “another” divorce and launched the same day as we did. He didn’t make it two days before heading home. Yet another hiker, flesh into retirement and questioning what to do now, made it a couple of days, punched out, and headed back to the Midwest. Person after person went looking for something or someone, and to them, the Appalachian Trail was the place to find it. The longing in the human heart can only be eclipsed by the glory of God. No other fulfillment reaches the depths of a man’s soul.

How can you know if you are seeking God’s glory?

• You find joy in Christ’s name being exalted, even if you receive no attention or praise.
• You do not measure success by the world’s terms but by the truth of God’s Word.
• You seek to know and pursue what Christ values more than climbing the ladder of success and seeking what the world values.

That hike formed a bond that eternity cannot break.

But maybe that’s the glory talking.

Dare greatly.

Live humbly.

Be a better man.

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