The Interpreted Rock

By Stephen C. Schultz The breeze was warm as it swirled past me, making the short sleeves of my T-shirt ripple in the wind. The sun was just starting to peek over the mountaintop, yet it had been light for a couple of hours already. When you're at the base of a 10,000-foot mountain, it takes a while for any direct sunlight to appear. Since it’s Saturday, my ritual usually involves edging the lawn and then mowing it. As I came around the side of the house to mow, I noticed some roses in an overgrown flower bed—a bed that’s home to various ground cover plants and untamed varieties of flora I couldn’t begin to identify. Stop and smell the roses Our home was built in the late 1800s by the local County Sheriff. Each spring, flowers and plants appear that I’ve never seen before. There are even some plants that come up every year that I once thought were weeds—until this year, when I was too busy to keep up with the weeding. They blossomed into beautiful little blue flowers! Who would’v...

By Stephen C. Schultz (Editors note: This is a story used in a Wilderness Treatment Program. Many come to this program having struggled with depression, anxiety and substance use.)   Many years ago there was a young Native American who lived in the very land you are residing in. He decided to seek wisdom by journeying to the top of Indian Peak. As he approached the base of the mountain he came across a rattlesnake that slithered beside him. The snake coiled as if to strike and the young boy moved back quickly in fear of being struck by the snake’s deadly venom. At that instant the snake spoke to the boy saying, “Don’t be afraid of me, I mean you no harm. I come to you to ask a favor. I see that you are about to traverse to the top of Indian Peak and was hoping that you may be willing to place me in your satchel so that I don’t have to make the long journey alone.” The young boy surprised by the snake’s request quickly responded by turning down the offer, stating, ...