“Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God’s grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing)...” Hebrews 12:15 (Amplified Bible)
”Do what the sherpas tell you. If they feel you are having trouble and need to turn around, don’t resist them. On the mountain they are in charge.” Those were the directions from our tour director before leaving us and putting us on a plane in Kathmandu to go to Lukla. From there our sherpas would meet us and we would be in their hands.
With such firm directions I expected them to be rather serious, maybe even stern types. Instead, they were gentle and friendly. It was clear that their focus was on providing a good experience for us and getting us safely to our destination and back. But I noticed our sherpas were careful observers. They monitored how we were doing, the pace at which we were walking, our breathing, etc. They provided health checks every night, careful to record the data that either verified their observations or revealed something they weren’t seeing.
They didn’t judge. This coming Sunday I will explain about Buddhist memorials on the path and the respect you show by keeping religious objects on your right, meaning our sherpas always walked to the left side. This produces good karma. If we didn’t follow this and walked to the right side, they didn’t say anything. There was no correction or explanation about what we should do. There was freedom to walk our journey. I wondered if many Christians would be as accepting? Or would they (I!) feel the need to point out how we do things and what is proper?
But don’t think sherpas are carefree. Every now and then they stopped us and said, “Sippy, sippy,” as in, take a water break. You could tell by the tone this wasn’t a request. You drink when they say drink. Why? Because it is clear they are concerned about your journey, helping you reach your destination. That meant they didn’t judge when judgment wasn’t necessary. But it did mean they gave clear direction when your welfare was the issue.
On my second day I reflected on this in my journal.
When my sherpa asked what I did, I explained I was a Christian pastor. He said, “That is a good thing.” In that moment I felt a strange connection to him, that in our separate ways we are both sherpas. I am called to be a spiritual sherpa to help people on their path. Perhaps I was being helped to understand my call as a sherpa from this man. While giving me freedom to walk as I did, he was careful to measure my steps and those in our group. Did we look tired? Were we drinking enough water?...Their judgment was solely about our welfare.
Last Sunday we talked about the importance of community. This Sunday is about karma. The connection for me was the sherpa. People who allowed me freedom without judgment to walk my path, but who also, with an element of judgment, intervened when needed to make sure my journey turned out well. Their defined how they treated people.
What if we saw ourselves as sherpas, less interested in people thinking like us, but loving them as our faith would have us; focusing first and foremost on their well being, so that our judgments were reserved to those matters, and our genuine concern was less about making them think like us, and more about helping them on their journey? What I know for sure is that I’ve talked few people into becoming Christian who weren’t Christian already, but I’ve known many people who became Christian because of the way they were treated.
Just a thought.