I am nearing the end of the book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. It was made into an Oscar nominated movie starring Reese Witherspoon (which I have yet to watch)! Strayed shares her journey of solo hiking over 1,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State. She set out on this hike to deal with personal loss—the sudden death of her mother, divorce from her husband, infidelity and drug abuse in the wake of her grief—basically the implosion of her life as she knew it.

Though Strayed was not an expert hiker by any means. The Pacific Crest Trail is some seriously difficult hiking and takes thru-hikers five to six months to complete. There are parts of the trail with no water source nearby, so you have to bring enough water to last for days. Strayed’s hiking boots ended up being too small so her feet became wounded along the way, making the journey even harder. She encountered bears and rattlesnakes, snowy mountains and the blazing sun of the desert. And keep in mind that she was hiking alone!

Cheryl Strayed reflected on her journey: “Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me. Insisting on this story was a form of mind control, but for the most part, it worked. Every time I heard a sound of unknown origin or felt something horrible cohering in my imagination, I pushed it away. I simply did not let myself become afraid. Fear begets fear. Power begets power. I willed myself to beget power. And it wasn’t long before I actually wasn’t afraid.”

Reading this book of Cheryl Stayed’s journey reminded me of the power of stories.
The stories we read.
The stories we hear.
The stories we tell ourselves.
The sacred stories of our faith tradition.
Humans are meaning-making creatures, and don’t we love a good story?

Fear begets fear.
Power begets power.
Do not be afraid of the unknown!
Seemed like some good thoughts to share this week.

Love,
Pastor Lauren

Photo by Philipp Torres on Unsplash

Thursday Thoughts 6/11/26