Narrow Places: A Search For Our Father

by guest author Thomas Overlund

In the pleasant breeze of early autumn, walking the Fanno Creek Trail brings solace to a heart full of questions: the ideas that come to me are often deeper, more relevant and inspiring.  When walking the disc golf course, I am allowed free time away from the world of competition. I can focus on what I am searching for; a greater connection to my Father and his ideals. When I allow myself to further negotiate these thoughts my faith increases. When I do not, I feel my spiritual fire fading away. Our world of expectation and production pulls the solace of what God gave us away.

Everyone has places, tasks or situations that bring them peace, and it is vital for our mental and spiritual health to find these places, use them to grow our spirit and to help us bring God’s presence into our life at a deeper level. When this is accomplished we as humans are able to overcome obstacles that seem to heavy to bear or too high to jump. These places are intimate and personal.. No two relationships are the same and this is the same as ours with our spiritual father. As we search for these narrow places, start where we have experienced enlightenment in the past.

I have found that the places where I am being spoken to were not obvious but gifted to me.  It’s as if these places were given to me to help me recover from a tough work week or deal with a matter which I was unable to bear on my own. These places allow me to Lament deeply with my spiritual Father, and I reckon they will improve your prayer life. Relationships with other people often have certain requirements to be deemed spiritually fulfilling or enjoyable, so my narrow places are rarely shared with others .This doesn’t have to be the case: many of us have people that we are comfortable with at a different level, and we can create a place where we are able to communicate what is really going on deep inside. These people support rather than detract from the experience of a narrow place and allow the soul to be expressed.

As we search for or experience these places and other connections to our spiritual life we start to recognize situations that are keeping us away from peace and the scenarios where we are connected and thus inspired by our father to impact our world in the way that Jesus did.

Serving the Lord is something that is essential for our walk on this earth. After all, we are taught to share the light that Jesus gave us with others and to treat our society as Jesus treated us. Jesus sacrificed for others in such an immense way that it impacted this world to change and to see him as the way a human should live. Furthermore we must follow Christ’s example in spirit and action so we can serve in ways that honor his experience and teachings. Before we can do this effectively, we must create a relationship with our father and sustain that relationship as the anchor in our lives. When we have achieved a close relationship with our Lord, then a narrow place can be a place where we serve God. This is a goal that will allow us to shine the light of God through our service to others, the act of serving doesn’t become a burden and thus lessen our spiritual fire.

In this sense, it is important to find a cause to serve that becomes a narrow place for you and gives you joy to perform. The places where I feel closer to God at the moment are very personal and meditative, but my goal is to grow my connection to my Father enough that I am able to serve others, feel his presence, allow him to carry the burden of  tiredness of the work or the act of serving in times of stress or frustration with the narrow places. Finding a personal place where we find the presence of our Father will allow us to improve our relationship with God and thus improve our ability to enact positive changes in our society and community.

The next chapter of our spiritual journey will cover situations where we can grow closer to our community and people outside of our personal community.

Do you have places, tasks or situations where you feel closer to God, or places that bring you a feeling of peace? Share these in the comments below! 

The Forest of North Portland: Pier Park

    While attending PCC, I took advantage of my time out of class to explore Portland by Bus. One evening, I hopped a 44 downtown, but instead of transferring at the mall, I continued north, riding the route all the way to its end at a large urban woodland called Pier Park. Here the 44 laid over before its southbound return trip to PCC. If the layover was long, I killed time walking across a field into a grove of Sequoia trees: and stared into the forest beyond. I never had time to explore the park in much detail, though it had my curiosity. And with my campaign this summer to visit the parks in North Portland, I decided it was time to revisit the park.
     My trip there was different this time: I drove, approaching from the west via Saint Johns bridge and parking just outside the park's southwestern corner by the pool. As with most of my expeditions, the timing and season helped set the stage: stepping out of the car, I was greeted by a cool, jasmine-scented breeze. It was surprisingly quiet for so close to the heart of Portland, and squirrels watched me from the twisted branches of  ancient apple trees.
     The park is instantly imposing. Massive fir trees up to 3 feet in diameter and over a hundred feet high are scattered throughout the entrance, forming an enclosed canopy above you. Yet the native ground cover has long since been cleared away, like many of the parks in Portland. So the forest has survived, but it looks much different than it did when settlers first arrived in the area. An eager explorer is meant by concrete trails heading off in every direction, vanishing into the trees, or behind one or the ridges that cross the park. While the ground cover is gone, an eclectic mix of smaller trees form a veritable Arboretum in the understory, and everything from Oaks to Maples to aspens can be found here. 

A small cottage and dogwood tree
in the northwest corner of the park.
Perhaps this is the groundskeepers
residence? 

     While some of the outlying areas are open and grassy, the park is mostly forest. Clearing the woods minimized, and the attractions of the park are woven into the forest. A playground and wading pool occupy a clearing just big enough for their footprint, and a complete disc golf course hides in the understory. Towards the southern end of the park are a collection of mostly abandoned brick sheds, their moss-covered roofs rotting and falling away, windows boarded up with brick-red plywood. One of these structures was a functional restroom, but the others remain a mystery. More restrooms perhaps, or snack shacks. We may never know. 
     I located the old gravel lane I'd walked while I was waiting for the 44, and took it around the edge of the park into the Sequoia Grove. I took the bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad, chimney park, then it was time to head for home.
    It was a pleasant walk...yet as I headed back to my car along the packed earth trails, I began to notice more disc golf paraphernalia. Holes and starting points dotted the landscape, on hilltops and ravines, some ranges crossed trails and most of my fellow travelers were engaging in the sport in some way. It felt a bit like i didn't belong, like in the process of walking through this forest, I was intruding. Perhaps I was in the way of someone's shot, or in danger of getting hit. Don't get me wrong: it is the perfect location for the sport: the forest canopy hides hills and ravines, and the trees grow wild making for a good challenge. No encounter I had was hostile, but hiking or picnicking in that part of the park would feel a bit out of place. Just passing through is likely harmless, and perhaps I wasn't actually in their way. Maybe I was worried about nothing with safety. I mean, disc golfers shout "FORE!" when they are about to throw a Frisbee...I hope.

One of the holes of the disc golf
course in Pier Park. Winding paths
like these cross the park to form
walking routes and access to the golf course.

     I made my trip in July, and likely many things have changed. I assume the park is cooler, and damp. The mob of children probably no longer crowd the poolside entrance (having returned to school), and there are fewer hikers. However in a Pacific Northwest forest, many things change little. With its fir trees and evergreen shrubs, I'm sure the park is just as green in October as it was when I visited in July. And your odds of being hit by a flying disc are probably halved as well! -KP