Two friends hiking... (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Two friends hiking...

12:00am Monday 13th February 2012

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Two lifelong friends were hiking through the Lake District. Maybe it was the scorching heat because, unusually, an argument broke out over some now long ago pettiness. Suddenly Clive lunged out and slapped his friend in the face. Mark was hurt, but he did not retaliate other than stooping down and silently finger writing in the sand of the track, 'Today my best friend hit me.' From then on they walked in stunned silence. They came to a fast flowing river that they had to cross by wet stepping-stones. Mark set out first. Half way across he lost his footing and slid into the snowmelt. He struggled and the more he did so the greater became the risk of drowning. Without a second thought Clive leapt into the cold water, grabbed his friend by the collar and hauled him to the river bank.

After he got his breath back and overcame his panic, Mark found a sharp stone and scratched the following on a rock: 'My best friend has just saved my life.' Mystified, Clive asked, ‘Why, after I slapped you, did you write in the sand and now you write on a stone?'

Mark replied, 'When we are hurt by someone it is better to write in the sand where winds of forgiveness can blow it away. But when someone does something good for us, it is better to etch it in stone where no wind can ever remove it.'

In this simple story there is eternal sacred truth.

John Churcher

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