The fifth layer of joy is transcendent joy, feeling at one with nature, the universe, or God. In Backpacking with the Saints, Belden Lane describes the experience of hiking this way: Whenever I plunge into wilderness, my body and the environment move in and out of each other in an intimate pattern of exchange. I wade through water and inhale air filled with the scent of honeysuckle. I’m wrapped in cobwebs and pierced by briars. I swallow gnats drawn to the sweat on my body and feel the rocks on the trail through my boots. Where I “end” and everything else “begins” isn’t always clear. What
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