Photo provided by Br. Jimmy Henke, C.S.C.
Usually in a situation like this, the sound of rain is alarming. Water gets between the fingers and rocks. Friction decreases to a dangerous extent. The pebble-sized crystals in the rock that I’m supposed to trust and stand upon become untrustworthy traitors as I try to make the ascent.
But Twinkie, a famous rock climbing route at the Red River Gorge, is different. The lower half is a vertical slab wall which leads up to the dramatically overhung upper portion. The overhung portion keeps all but the last three feet of the climb dry. And so when the rain began to fall while I was taking a standing rest before starting the second half of Twinkie, I wasn’t alarmed. In fact, I was brought to a great sense of peace.
Sure, I could no longer communicate clearly with my belayer, but he had a good eye on me. I had dreamt of climbing Twinkie since my first trip to the Red River Gorge in 2012. I used to look at the wall as a lifelong dream that would likely be unattainable. I returned to the Red (as the Red River Gorge is known by climbers) this fall for the first time since 2018 and finally had a chance to try my hand at Twinkie. With only a half-day session on the climb, I knew it would be unlikely for me to get the send (making it from bottom to top without falling once), but I was happy just to get on the route.
I made it to the top of Twinkie with a couple falls – and with a boosted confidence that with just a little endurance work, this dream that seemed so far off as to be unachievable was actually quite achievable. As I hung from one of my falls, suspended over the Red River Gorge and listening to the rain fall all around me, I felt my heart lift up to God.
This year, I have stepped into a new role as an Interim Director of Residence Life at King’s College, welcomed and onboarded a completely new professional staff, said yes to a couple more things on the side than maybe I should have, and continued other responsibilities for my local and wider Holy Cross community. The last few months have felt like a whirlwind of activity. Taking vacation time to take a step back helped me return to a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty of the world around me.
Sometimes we have periods in our life which naturally lend themselves to wonder at God’s created beauty. And sometimes, we have to make a conscious step back to be amazed at the marvel of God’s creation. Climbing – in addition to being a social space and a good form of exercise – provides me that needed space to marvel. Sometimes I leave after the offices close and head straight out with a couple bouldering pads and a headlamp to the quiet boulder fields of PA. The climbing is good, but so is the chance to pause in wonder.
Tonight, I’m taking a group of twenty students to the local climbing gym to introduce them to the sport that invites me to wonder at God. I invite you, if you find yourself bogged down by the busy-ness of life, to take a step back. Go into the woods. Marvel at the rocks, the trees, the rain. We humans do amazing work, but the work of God far surpasses.
By Br. Jimmy Henke, C.S.C.
Published October 21, 2026 by the Office of Vocations
