Skiing In My Mind

                                              

On January seventh I was finally able to go skiing. Perhaps it was global warming which had delayed my winter sport activity. The fact that I could not actually physically ski in December did not prevent me from thinking about skiing. In fact, I read a book about skiing and I imagined skiing. I have actually been skiing in my mind for the past several weeks. I took time from my not so busy schedule to understand, visualize, comprehend and contemplate what skiing is.

Skiing is all about physics and understanding physics helps me ski. When I arrive at the base of the mountain, I have no potential energy. The ski lift is a machine which transports me from the bottom to the top of the mountain. It is powered by electricity likely generated from fossil fuels. When I arrive at the top of the mountain, I now possess a large amount of potential energy imparted to me by fossil fuel whose chemical energy was converted into electric energy at the power plant. To summarize, electric energy moved my chair lift with me in it to the mountain top and I am now empowered with potential energy.

As I begin to slide down the mountain, that potential energy in me is being converted into kinetic energy. Initially, my skis are flat and headed straight down the mountain giving me acceleration and velocity. As my speed increases, I become a bit fearful. I want to be in control and make some turns. I tilt my skis up on their edges at an angle to the snow and they form a wedge which pushes me to the right resulting in a turn. My resistance to the snow increases and I slow down a bit. I repeat this maneuver on the opposite side and my skis are again pushed, this time resulting in a left turn. I am turning and sliding and skidding and balanced and in control, at least in my mind. Eventually I am at the bottom of the trail. My potential energy and my kinetic energy are gone, depleted, dissipated and all that remains are the memory and the exhilaration and the excitement of the run. I get back on the lift and repeat the cycle several more times until my old aching body calls it quits, too sore and fatigued to continue.

There will come a time, preferably not too soon, when my season pass will expire and no longer be renewable. When that day comes the laws of physics will no longer apply to me. They will be replaced by what some people call metaphysics, the mysterious forces and laws of the spiritual realm. These are revealed to us now, in our consciousness, thoughts, ideas, beliefs, imagination, hopes and dreams, desires and longings. These are the foreshadowing, preludes, precursors that point to our ultimate destiny. A realm of love, beauty, peace, mystery, adventure, creativity and divinity awaits us.

 It is wrong to think of the spiritual as a lesser substance than the physical. It is, in fact, infinitely more real, permanent, and substantial than what we now experience on Earth.

In the words of Isaiah, “Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” Is 40:31

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