Honoring

There is much more to recount of this journey, but I find myself stepping back and reflecting on an insight that hit home with me at about this time in our trek.

Throughout this trip, others were there to serve us. Our drivers met us at the airport; when we reached the cars they had damp towels and bottled water to refresh us. They drove us eight hours or more some days. When we stopped to eat, they often joined the proprietor in preparing and serving our meals. When we stopped, whether at a guest house or hotel, they helped to bring our luggage in. When we trekked they took care of the luggage that was not with us.

We also had guides, and porters. As we prepared to set out in the mornings, they handed us snack packs. They disassembled the camp, and packed it up. When we couldn’t use donkeys, they carried everything we did not: the tents, the sleeping bags, the stoves, the food, their own gear as well as much of ours. When we filled out water bottles from the streams, they had the iodine. The carried our lunch, and set it out for us. When we arrived at the campsite, it was already being set up: the latrines dug, the mess tent and dining tent up, food being prepared. We didn’t have to set up our tents, our unroll our sleeping bags. We didn’t wash dishes, or boil water for drinking.

Special thanks is due to Aaron. As always, he handled all of the logistics from landing to departure. Even after his leg was broken, he ensured hotel arrangements for us in Rishikesh as he headed to Delhi for surgery.

Throughout, we were served with respect, with joy, with love.

Some see this service by others as their due, an entitlement, owed by virtue of privilege, status, class, or economics. I came to know that it is an honor to be served in this way, and it is humbling. I also know that without this care, this service, I would not have been able to complete the trek.

To all those who served me on this journey, I honor the divine in each of you, and express to all my appreciation for the service you provided. Namaste