RELATIONSHIPS December 27, 2004 Issue

Unhooked

By Alex Cook

I WAS TRAPPED IN A THORNY MESS. Less than an hour earlier, I'd set out for a hike in the mountains of New Hampshire. It was August, and the trees and bushes were in full growth. A very short distance up the mountain, the path quickly became choked with blackberry vines. I didn't worry though, and plunged ahead with big steps.

Almost instantly my progress was arrested by the sound and sensation of hundreds of thorns from the vines tearing into my clothes and skin. I couldn't move without ripping my clothes or scratching myself painfully. The only thing I could do was unhook each and every thorn, and gently move forward.

So, I began. I took one vine that was deeply hooked into the cloth of my shirt, eased the thorns out of the material, and let the vine swing back behind me. I did this with several vines until finally I was free to take a step. It was then that I began to feel this process had a deep spiritual parallel to my own life.