Go ahead, call me a “Slurpa.”

Three different times over the past few weeks, I’ve made the same trek to a memorable destination. No, I didn’t hike up some remote mountain. Rather, I took a journey back in time. And I did it with a group of residents from my place of employment in tow.

The reason? I wanted to guide my friends at Covenant Shores Retirement Community to a counterculture that has largely disappeared from the landscape of America. I wanted to introduce my friends to The Owl Soda Fountain in downtown Wenatchee and witness their mountaintop joy.

Guides of those who climb Mount Everest or K-2 are called Sherpas. Sherpas are experienced “shepherds” of novice climbers who take pride in introducing their human flock to vistas previously unseen.

With that in mind I’m guessing that escorts who help senior adults climb up on a soda fountain stool to slurp a milkshake at a counter might well be called “slurpas.”

When I first proposed the day trip to the Covenant Shores activities director, the idea was met with cautious approval. After all it was a 270-mile round trip over two mountain passes that would take eight hours. But when the sign-up sheet filled up on the first day (and a waiting list to boot), caution gave way to delight. As residents of the initial adventure returned from the nostalgic trek raving about The Owl, word spread. A second trip was scheduled. Then a third.

From the time I slurped my first chocolate malt at “The Owl” as a 12-year-old, I’ve been an “evangelist” telling others about my favorite watering hole. It’s only natural to share the “good news” so others can experience what you have come to know.

There’s an old Swedish proverb that celebrates this axiom of life. “A shared joy is a doubled joy!” And it’s true. What brings you delight is all the more delightful when others discover the same source of wonder with you.

That innate desire to share what we find personally meaningful is illustrated by the way we re-post a poignant YouTube on Facebook or the way we forward an inspirational anecdote we’ve come across on the internet. It’s an instinctual force within us that finds us escorting others to a summit of discovery.

Whether it’s sharing our excitement over an old-fashioned soda fountain we’ve recently visited, a great movie we’ve just seen, a bestselling book we’ve just read or a profound spiritual truth we’ve just discovered, we all are “slurpas” in one way or another. And sharing our discoveries helps make the world a better place.

Pastor Greg is a regular contributor to the Reporter.