How does one pray in the midst of climbing the switchbacks and pulling off the cholla.  We call them Teddy Bear Cholla’s here in the Sonoran Desert because of the soft cuddly visual they portray from a distance.

They like to become your companion as you stroll a beautiful desert path by jumping on your leg or arm and inflicting serious pain and suffering.  They hold onto you for dear life much as a child would hold onto a beloved teddy bear, only you don’t want the needles this particular teddy bear leaves in your skin. Imagine those needles to be each and every neglected thought of  unforgiveness towards anyone you encounter.  The cholla needles inhibit your communion with your fellow man and God.  Stroll slowly… stay alert and be well rested as you journey across the rocks, washes and desert.   Confess your cholla needles to a friend and enjoy resting in the desert instead of unrest in the desert.

Cynthia Heald is a friend of Elisabeth Elliot and quotes her in “Maybe God is Right After All”

“The trail is steep and very rocky, and gets steeper and rockier the nearer it gets to the summit.  The company of a friend does not make the distance shorter, but makes it seem shorter.  It doesn’t eliminate any of the rocks, but the rocks don’t seem so terribly daunting.  The glad receiving of the yoke of Christ halves our life’s burden.  The road is still a tough one, but the roughness won’t matter nearly so much”

Don’t take any cholla needles to your summit.         

 Rest in Him, Trish