Once, we wanted to take a shortcut from San Jose to San Isidro. What seemed to separate the two towns was only a rice field. So a few of us city folk, with little idea of what the walk would entail, ambitiously set off, convinced it would be a short 100-metre journey. Instead, it became a hazardous two-kilometre trek that took more than three hours.
We crossed a ravine on a bridge barely three bamboo poles wide. We came face to face with a water buffalo. I lost my slippers in the mud. We were bitten by red ants. By the time we reached our destination, we were covered in mud. Yet the journey was filled with laughter, shrieks, doubt, regret, disappointment, hope, and even more laughter.
At one point, we counted ourselves and thought there were five of us. When we finally emerged from the tall grass and counted again, we realised there were only four. That fifth person, we came to realise, was You. Yes, You often accompany us long before we become aware of Your presence.