BFF / Costa Rica Trip '08, Part IV

We sang a strange song today in church; some of the lyrics were along the lines of "God calls me friend."  I suppose it's kind of strange, but it really struck me as bizarre.  Can we be friends with God?  I don't really think so.  I quoted a passage from Lewis's The Problem of Pain three posts ago in which he makes analogies to differing aspects of God's love.  Maybe it's just a semantic argument, but I don't think friendship is what God has in mind for us.  Can creatures be friendly with their Creator?  

Think about your friends for a moment.  They're probably people you joke with, drink with, spend a lot of time with... but also people you consider your equals, at least in some regard.  As anyone who has spent a few moments around organized religion knows, we can never be equals with God.  We are, by nature, separated by an infinite moral gulf - one which is reconciled through Christ, true, but that doesn't mean we can be like the Most High.  In fact, I'm pretty sure someone got in some trouble for that.  So, distilling everything to a point: I don't think most of the sane people out there consider themselves on par with the Supreme Reality Himself, but you may save yourself from some wrong thinking if you avoid singing or saying, "God calls me His friend."

7 April

--The Long Leg--

Well, today's completion marks what should be the most strenuous part of our excursion.  If the signs are to be believed, we did 17 km in 7 hours, which was just what I had predicted.  We had heard that it takes anywhere from 6 to 10 hours [from Los Patos to Sirena], so I guess we did alright.  We had been under the impression that the trail would be downhill or flat - lied to again!  The first part was up and down a lot, and steep, to boot.  To the credit of whoever told us that, the trail did eventually level out.  Regardless of the slope, my everything hurts again.  I am very pleased (and thank God) that I made it today.  That we made it today.  Wildlife roll call: lots of monkeys, an anteater, a bird that looks like a little emu, ants that make their own roads (!!), a poison dart frog, lots more Jesus lizards, and hopefully some tapir tonight.  The anteater was in a tree - I didn't know they do that!  We also got to see a sloth before leaving Los Patos.  Very cool.  They do everything in slo-mo.  Later in the day, we heard what we think were howler monkeys - very intimidating sounds.  The other monkeys that we saw tried to chase us off by throwing sticks and leaping between branches.  Not quite as scary as the howlers.  And as I sit and write this, seven spider monkeys are climbing into a bare tree in the distance.  Settling in for the night, I suppose.

--The Lodge--

Sirena is very pretty.  Like Los Patos, it's basically been hollowed out of the forest.  It is much bigger and even has its own airstrip (which coincidentally leads to a beach).  I imagine there are even a few trails - we'll find out tomorrow.  We're being buzzed by bats again!  (1711, April 7)