YOUTH MATTERS: Trumpeting Polish Courage
By Sam Clear, Director of the Office of Youth Evangelisation
It’s normal for us to share our concern. It’s much rarer to back it up with an offer to assist. Most readers would be aware that I once walked 15,600km around the world, but I rarely talk about the mountain of advice I received along the way.
It was a task to sift through the wise, the ignorant and the malicious. Most concern was along the lines of, “That town is too far away,” or “This road is too dangerous.” Only once in the entire nineteen-month journey did someone back up their concern with an offer to join me.
In early March of 2008 I was scheduled to walk 28km over a small mountain range separating the southern Polish towns of Andrychow and Zywiec. The weather was closing in with snow and high winds predicted for the mountain pass, so it came as no surprise when a young doctor named Wojtek pulled me aside and said, “That road you are planning to walk tomorrow – it will be very dangerous in these conditions.”
I was about to explain that I’d already walked across Canada, Russia and Belarus in winter, and that I’d be ok, but before I could say a word he added, “If I call in sick for work at the hospital, will you trust me to show you a safer path around the mountains? It’s much longer, and it’s complicated, but you can at least arrive safely.”
I’d been walking and praying for fifteen months and this was the first time anyone had expressed concern and offered to join me.
The next morning Wojtek arrived with his hiking gear and a medieval trumpet strapped to his backpack, “This is to announce my arrival in Zywiec at days end, for having completed at least one day of the walk!”
With immense joy Wojtek firstly led me to Mass and then on through the Międzybrodzie Valley past lakes and tiny settlements. It rained all 35km to Zywiec, but we had the time of our lives, sharing stories and praying together.
We in the empty Zywiec town square after sunset, where Wojtek unsuccessfully attempted to announce his arrival – the trumpet was full of water. His second attempt was far more regal.
That night I discovered that the mountain pass I had intended to walk had been hit with gale force winds and a dumping of snow, claiming the life of one motorist attempting the pass. Wojtek is still, to this day, a close friend, and what a beautiful thing it is to know people who will willingly step into our mess.
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)