Chapter 4: The Importance of a Guide Whitewater rafting has become one of my favorite springtime activities, and I have also found it to be rich in illustrations that parallel our spiritual journeys. I wanted to conclude with some of those other lessons, not necessarily tied into the main example, but fun nonetheless. If you can remember back to the beginning of this book I talked about how our rafting experience was different because we were going on our own, we did not have a professional rafting company that we were tagging along with. We knew the reputation that the Hudson River had, but our excitement had convinced us that we could handle it. The first hour or so on the river was pretty basic except the aforementioned Otter Slide; we had no trouble navigating the whitewater. It was not until we entered the famous Hudson Gorge that we started to doubt our previous decision to run the river without someone guiding us. We had pulled off at a nice sunny spot on the river bank to eat a small snack and rest before entering the next three-hour stretch of the most demanding whitewater any of us had ever navigated. That is when Sandy and a friend paddled by in their Whitewater Kayaks. As they paddled by, we waved to them and called them over to the shore. They came over, and we talked with them for quite a while, asking them about their experience on the Hudson River. We quickly learned that Sandy was a whitewater rafting guide for one of the companies that operate on the Hudson. She was showing her friend, in the other kayak, the ropes of navigating the different rapids. Once we realized her experience, we asked her for some pointers on how to hit some of the more challenging rapids ahead. After a few more minutes of talking, she agreed to go with us and offer us the best routes through each of the
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