Lion's Gate Bridge (Part 2)

My second time at the Lion's Gate Bridge allowed me more reflection and meditation. I sat on the edge of a cliff to listen to the waves splash against the shoreline. As I sat, I prayed to God for guidance in not just classes, but in life, in addition to wisdom.  My focus on God in prayer, forgetting about myself, is what Merold Westphal was explaining as his thesis in "Phenomenology of Prayer: "Prayer is a deep, quite possibly the deepest decentering of the self, deep enough to begin dismantling or, if you like, deconstructing that burning preoccupation with myself." I tried my best to cast away my anxieties and focus on God, but I failed to feel a connection with Him as I found my mind wandered to other secular things.

After eight minutes (approximately), I strolled the Nolan Trail for a bit. I spotted trees along the way and among them were poplar, red oak, and pine. Rubbing the tree barks with my hands, I felt how each texture differed from the next. The poplar and red oak bark were bumpy with protuberant ridges, while the pine bark was fragmented, like flaky brownies.

I encountered these trees for I was trying to understand how they "behaved". Martin Buber stated, "life beneath my hand, it was as though the element of vitality itself bordered on my skin, something that was not I, certainly not akin to me, palpably the other, not just another, really the Other itself; and yet it let me approach, confided itself to me, placed itself elementally in the relation of Thou and Thou with me." (23) Running my hands on the bark provided me insight into what tree offered. Similar to tasting many ice cream flavors (which carry various textures), the trees exhibit its own distinct appearance, distinguishing it from the rest. 

Listening to the sounds nature makes was great for me to hear because it spoke to me in its own tunes. The trail, with birds chirping, duck quacking, and leaves rustling, the trial was speaking-in its own way.