"We don't grow spiritually when everything's going good. When we're blind and we're wondering what the future is gonna — that's when we're in that pain, that emotional pain and anxiety. It's when we grow spiritually."

Rand Timmerman grew up in poverty, survived Vietnam, built a 40-year legal career, fought alcoholism into his 60s, and got sober through AA. At 72, four years into his sobriety, he set out to hike the Appalachian Trail — 2,200 miles, 600 mountains, half a million feet of elevation change — alongside his grieving younger brother. What happened on that trail changed his understanding of God, of suffering, and of what it actually means to be grateful.

He describes standing alone on a mountain above the Hudson River at daybreak, raptors circling, New York City just visible on the horizon, not a single sign of human life — and feeling, for the first time, that his higher power was as large as the universe itself. That expansion stayed with him. The following year, he went blind on Christmas Eve. He was alone in a home with alcohol in it for two months. He never once thought about a drink.

Raymond presses Rand on the question most listeners will be asking: why does it seem to take so much pain to get there? Rand's answer is honest and oddly comforting. The hard times are not in the way. They are the way.

Learn more and connect:

A Spiritual Passage by Rand Timmerman — available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com

Resources mentioned:

A Spiritual Passage by Rand Timmerman — memoir of the Appalachian Trail hike, grief, sobriety, and faith Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) 12-step program — https://www.aa.org The Appalachian Trail Conservancy — https://www.appalachiantrail.org Respark Your Life Podcast — https://www.resparkyourlife.com Raymond Aaron — https://www.aaron.com

Raymond Aaron has shared his vision and wisdom on radio and television programs for over 40 years. He is the author of over 100 books, including Branding Small Business For Dummies, Double Your Income Doing What You Love, Canadian best-seller Chicken Soup for the Canadian Soul, and he co-authored the New York Times best-seller Chicken Soup for the Parent's Soul. Raymond's latest, co-authored book is The AI Millionaire's Path: Discover How ChatGPT-Written Books Become Bestsellers and How They Can Make You a Millionaire Author!

https://www.aaron.com