Yesterday I hiked in a state park with my oldest son and his family and two other families who are friends with my son. There were eleven children age eleven and under plus six adults. The trail we hiked surrounds the lake in the park. Because we had so many small children we chose a path of only three hours walking and a little wider than the others there. Our group ended up spread out over 1/4 or 1/2 mile apart, the two oldest children far ahead on the trail. The oldest boy in the group hikes often with his family and though only eleven did not feel the need to stay too close to the main group. My oldest granddaughter trusts this young boy completely, as though he was more knowledge than average. Being of a little age I was unable to keep up with the lead group and fell somewhat behind with the younger group.
As the trail continued I noticed this young boy would stray off the trail into the sparse woods. He would take a cut down a hill or such whenever the mood struck him. Alabama has rattle snakes and water moccasins that come out this time of year so to go off the safe path actually, literally puts your life at risk.
The parents of the young boy were closest to that group of children and in my opinion should have requested they stick to the trail or at the very least warn the boy and my granddaughter of the possible dangers of being off the path but they did neither. You must understand too that Alabama has a lot of poison Ivy and other types of plants similar in nature.
The boy and my granddaughter continued to hike off the trail in random places. The thought entered my mind how my granddaughter had misplaced her trust and by doing so actually exposed herself to deadly danger in ignorance. She happily followed her friend in blind faith because he acted confidently. His confidence, however misplaced, gave her the courage to follow unfettered by concern.
Soon, the two children kept themselves far enough ahead that no adult could see them. A shrill scream rang out and it nearly frightened me to death. I was afraid the children had met with one of the aforementioned snakes. The parents in the lead group, the boys parents, quickened their pace slightly to check out what it was about, not seeing the children they assumed all was well which, thankfully, it was.
Later in the hike I noticed they boy begin to take his metal walking stick and beat on trees hard enough to knock bark off and to expose the bright insides of the tree, not a healthy prospect for the trees. Again the parents said nothing, no explanation of how he could hurt or damage the trees. Eventually he had beaten enough trees hard enough that his metal stick bent into a hook shape. As he stopped to beat more trees my group caught up with them and my granddaughter. Again the older two ran ahead, this time the boy saw a small tree whose trunk was not very large and whose height may have been about eight feet. He began to beat the small tree with his hooked stick, he encouraged my granddaughter to join in which she eventually did. They cut down the little tree with their blows. I rounded the corner just in time to see the tree fall, a sad sight to see. The only response from the boys father was, "I guess I'll have to pay a ticket." The boy received NO reprimand, not even a comment.
My son, his wife and the littlest children were perhaps 1/2 mile behind and never saw the behavior. I was not near enough to stop it although I called out. Again I found the experience aggravating.
My granddaughter placed her trust in someone who was unworthy of it. He put her in harms way because of his false confidence then he grew bolder and hurt other of Gods creations. He grew bolder in his actions with no respect for the Fathers' creations and not only destroyed one but encouraged my granddaughters help in doing so. In his ignorance and in the name of fun the tree was destroyed. The boys guiding light or his parents did not stop him. My voice from far away was not heard. In fact that final act was not even acknowledged by his parents as wrong.
The moral I took from my day at the park was, stay true to the path of righteousness. It is tempting to investigate areas not on the path but we need to stay true. Don't encourage others to stray and whatever you do take responsibility for yourself and for those that may follow your example. Only encourage good choices, spare pain, suffering and destruction to others as you can. Live by the Law of God. Yes, even a hike can teach you life lessons.
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