Way-Stations Along the Path

Buber’s passion for hiking is such that it penetrates into the metaphorical language of I and Thou. A strong example of this stands out in §48:

 When one proceeds along his way and simply wishes that it might be the way, the quality of his aspiration finds its expression in the strength of his striving. As he progresses, each moment of Thou-relating becomes a way-station that opens up a glimpse of the ultimate fulfillment. In this process the person is at once both not a participant and yet a participant to the extent that he proceeds with ready expectancy. With this ready expectancy—but not seeking—he advances along the path. In this manner, he has his self-surrender [Gelassenheit] and tangency before all things, which helps them. But once he finds fulfillment, his heart does not turn away from them; instead, everything now meets him in the oneness. He blesses all of the stopping places that have sheltered him as well as all those he will yet come to. For this finding is not the end-point but only its continual mid-point along the way.

This is a difficult passage, but it is laced with the elements of the trekker’s world—the path along which the trekker progresses, the trekker’s movement toward the goal of the trek, the way-stations or viewpoints along the way which show what lies ahead, and the stopping places that provide shelter as he proceeds. The trekker can be present to each moment of encounter along the way at the same time as the yearning for the goal propels him forward. In this duality, the immediate next step and the ultimate objective of the trek abide together in this oneness. Buber’s metaphorical language in this passage appeals to the pleasures of a good trek. 

A Dialogical Moment at Eagle’s Roost, a Way-Station on the Trail to Spray Park

(elevation 1470 meters), Mount Rainier National Park