Climbing Higher: 40 Devotions for Hikers by Lettie K. Whisman. Derek Press, 2022.
Even if you’re not much of a hiker, this short volume of devotions is encouraging and fascinating. “Climbing Higher: 40 Devotions for Hikers” by Lettie K. Whisman received the Devotional Book Award for 2022 from the Southern Christian Writers Conference, a ministry partner with TAB Media Group, which publishes The Alabama Baptist and The Baptist Paper.
Whisman, who has written other devotional books and articles, lives in Cleveland, Tennessee, and she wrote this devotional based on her own passion for hiking. She quotes Eric Liddell, the famed Christian Olympic runner, who said that when he ran he felt God’s pleasure, and applies this to her love for hiking mountain paths and forest trails. The book is graced with numerous photographs and notable quotes.
Whisman tells the story of hikers like Gracie McNicol, who climbed the 6,593-foot Mount LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at age 92. She relates a stirring account of a young boy who was lost for nine days in the forests of Maine in 1939 and survived. Throughout these concise devotional chapters, she shows how the beauty of God’s creation, the value of perseverance and the enduring joy of friendship can make hiking exhilarating and beneficial for many people.
Whisman recounts personal experiences as well as the testimonies of other hikers, and she weaves through each chapter a spiritual lesson based on the Bible. For example, she considers the value of a walking stick in relation to what Psalm 23 tells us of the shepherd’s staff and rod. Each chapter radiates with her love for the Lord and for hiking. Though I haven’t been on a long hike for some time, this devotional made me want to lace up my hiking boots and hit the trail. It might do the same for you.
Share with others: