They told us it was just like walking up a wheelchair ramp.
Well, two hours later, in pitch darkness, I lagged behind the rest of my group, wondering why this seemed easier for everyone else. Every step forward got harder and harder. I had not prepared well for this.
They told us that it was easier to climb Mount Sinai (Jabal Musa) in Egypt on foot than to take a camel. Climbers can take one of two paths: the “Steps of Repentance,” a steep 3,750-step climb carved into the mountain by monks, and the “Camel’s Path,” a wide, winding slope that climbers share with camels. Both paths meet at a rest area before the final 750-step climb to the summit. I joined my church’s group for the climb, excited to be walking where Moses had walked to meet with God and receive the Law. We took the Camel’s Path and began at night so that we could see the sun rise at the top of the mountain and descend before the sun’s heat battered the mountainside.
I struggled to make it to the final rest area before the last 750 steps. Inwardly ashamed, I stayed at the rest area with a few members of my group while the others journeyed to the summit. Most of those who stayed behind were much older than I and had knee problems, but one of them was a friend my age. As the rest of the group went up the stairs, she burst into tears. I turned to comfort her, thinking she was ashamed, like me, that she could not reach the top.
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