Last week, I had the opportunity to stop by one of my favorite places, Holy Hill (http://www.holyhill.com/). Holy Hill is located about 35 miles notheast of Milwaukee.
I have been to Holy Hill several times in recent years. I never took advantage of the opportunity to climb the stairs to the top of one of the church's towers. Since the day was very clear (and very warm), I figured I would make my way to the top of the tower. 258 steps later, I enjoyed a magnificent view of the rural area that surrounds Holy Hill. Through the light haze, I could barely make out the tall buildings in downtown Milwaukee. There was a light breeze that provided relief after the long climb.
To my surprise, it was a bit more taxing on my near middle-aged body climbing down than climbing up. After reaching the ground floor where I started, I made my way over to the friar that was greeting visitors near the main facility entrance. I proudly told him that I counted 258 steps to the top of the bell tower. He informed me that he use to make the climb on a regular basis. However, wisdom now led him to take the elevator up to the main level of the church. This saves one over 100 steps. At that point, my spirit likely resembled the Hindenburg crashing to the ground in New Jersey.
I took me an hour our so to get over the sting of the friar's comments. He certainly meant no harm. After some thought, I came to the conclusion that he was right about wisdom. Had I taken the elevator, I would have been in a better position to focus on the magnificent view at the top of the bell tower rather thinking that I was perspiring quite a bit and trying to catch my breath.
While the 258 steps up led to a magnificent view, the 258 steps down lead to a valuable morsel of wisdom.
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