“Pole, Pole” (pronounced Pole-ay, Pole-ay)
Last week we heard this phrase a lot. Making our way up the Rongai route from the Kenyan border to the top of mount Kilimanjaro. Every time we were passed by a porter or a guide he would say in Swahili “Pole, pole”; go slowly, slowly. For a peak that tops out above 19,000 feet the guides knew that the air was thin and that our bodies were not used to the climate at that altitude. In fact, a majority of our group were from sea level, and even the altitude at the start of our trek (above 6,000 feet) could be a challenge.
It was not lost on us, that their admonishment to go slowly had broader implications than just our physical journey toward the summit. In fact, some of us when we would get a break in the action would pull out our cell phones and begin looking for a signal. Knowing that we were “off the grid” created its own level of angst. With long periods of hiking, alone with your thoughts even though you were part of a larger group, you had plenty of time to think about what was happening back in the real world. Our guides knew this, and so I think their encouragement to us was as much spiritual as it was physical. “Take it slowly. It’s ok. There is a blessing that comes from just experiencing the mountain and knowing that God has something special for you in this place. Don’t waste this unique opportunity.”
If fact, there is a Swahili phrase for the opposite of taking life at a practical pace: “Haraka, Haraka Haina Baraka”, which is Swahili for “Hurry, Hurry has no blessing”
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