Life Lessons from the National Parks

November 30, 2012

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son. Matthew 22: 2

Did you hear the story of the two men who were rescued after spending four days in the wilderness of Glacier?

The pair set out for the park’s Two Medicine area, intending to camp out for a couple of nights during a 17-mile hike. On the second day the weather turned nasty—snow, temps in the 30s, gusty winds. One of the men slipped off a ridge along the Continental Divide and fell about 100 feet. He was uninjured, but the two hikers had to figure out a way to get back together, then handle their predicament.

Unfortunately, their trail map blew out of their hands, so they finally decided to head down the mountain and set up camp for the night. Continuing bad weather the next day convinced them their best bet would be to hunker down and wait for better conditions.

Their good sense continued. “They rationed their food, collected firewood and materials to create a fire and smoke, turned their cell phones on during the day, displayed their space blanket for possible reflection during the day and used it to stay warm at night, and created an SOS message with logs,” Glacier spokewoman Denise Germann wrote in a release. Four days later, after authorities were alerted of their disappearance, the men were spotted by searchers. Aside from being cold and wet, they were reported to be in fairly good condition with no injuries.

“We are extremely pleased with the outcome of this incident, and perhaps we all can learn from this experience and these two men,” said Glacier National Park Chief Ranger Mark Foust. “These hikers were prepared with appropriate equipment and they used their situational awareness skills to determine how to respond to the unexpected in the backcountry.”

Contrast that with two incidents in Utah’s Zion National Park this fall. A man died while canyoneering when he got hung up upside down in a waterfall and couldn’t free himself. He and his wife didn’t have much experience with rappelling, and made the mistake of using a different anchor than the one listed in the route description.

Another couple intended to tackle the park’s 11-mile Heaps Canyon in one day, even though they’d encounter a nearly 300-foot rappel, a water course and other obstacles. Two days later, rangers noticed that their car was still parked at the canyon’s trailhead (although they had obtained a wilderness permit, they apparently neglected to inform anyone else where they were). Rescuers eventually found them alive but stranded in the lower part of the canyon, and had to bring them out by helicopter.

Three episodes of trouble, three divergent outcomes. The difference? The first group was prepared. Sure, they hoped for a safe adventure, but they were ready in case something went awry. Once it did, as the Chief Ranger noted, they used both their equipment and their common sense to wait out the trouble, and trusted in the fact that their loved ones knew where they were.

The couple in Heap’s Canyon, on the other hand, ignored a park ranger’s advice and were stranded, their predicament discovered only by chance. And the canyoneerer put his confidence in the wrong piece of equipment.

These incidents remind me of the responses in the parable of the wedding banquet, found in Matthew 22:1-14 and Luke 14:16-24. A king was throwing a feast in honor of his son’s wedding, and as was the custom in Bible times, not only sent out many advance invitations, but on the day of the dinner also sent out messengers to bring in the guests. Everything was ready…but the invitees wouldn’t come (Matthew 22:3, Luke 14:18). In fact, they “paid no attention and went their way” (Matthew 22:5), and gave excuses like, “’I have bought a piece of land, and I need to go out and look at it,’” and “‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out,’” and “I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come’” (Luke 14:18-20). Matthew even says the some of the invited guests went so far as to beat up and kill the messengers (22:6).

Naturally, the king was furious. To refuse an invitation at the last minute was just not done in that society. To kill an innocent person for no reason at all was inexcusable. The king sent out his army to destroy the murderers and their city (Matthew 22:7).

But there was still the matter of the wedding celebration! “Then [the king] said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad” (Matthew 22:8). When the hall still had room for more, the king told them to go out again and “compel them to come in, that my house may be full” (Luke 14:23).

Wow! That would be like walking down the street in London, and suddenly be invited by a palace attendant to join in William and Kate’s festivities!

But you know what my concern would be? That I wasn’t prepared. That I didn’t have a nice dress on, nor a present handy that was worthy of a royal couple!

I guess the king is this parable thought of that, too. He didn’t supply a present, but he apparently did provide clothes, because he knew they couldn’t be expected to have a suitable outfit with them.

Yet…one guest didn’t avail himself of the new clothes (Matthew 22:11). He had been invited and provided for, and wanted to be part of the fun, the excitement and the honor, but he wanted to do it his own way. He thought he was good enough as he was. When he was confronted about it, however, he was speechless (v. 12). He had no excuse. The king had him tossed out (v. 13).

God calls each one of us to an adventurous life with Him (John 1:12, 3:16, 10:10; Romans 10:13). Some will be indifferent to the summons, some will make excuses, and some will even be hostile.

But God never gives up. He keeps on inviting—everyone. And just as the king invited the good and the bad, God doesn’t care what you’ve done, where you’ve been or what you do or don’t have. He’s not asking you to spruce yourself up before you join Him, and He’s not looking at you to give Him anything—He just wants you to come! He’ll clean you up!

The Glacier hikers who were prepared for trouble fared the best, but even they had to be saved by professional rescuers. Vigilance, skill and common sense only get us so far. I imagine that the Zion hikers wondered at some point if they were going to get out of their predicament alive. Did the saying, “Prepare to meet your Maker” pass through their mind? Were they ready for that eventuality? I couldn’t say.

But let me ask you—are you prepared? Are you just doing what seems good to you, hoping everything will turn out all right in the end, trusting in your own instincts instead of going by the route laid out by the One who says “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6)? Or are you ready to accept the compelling invitation of a gracious King? There’s nothing else you have to do to attend the banquet—He’s already made the provision through His Son Jesus, the Professional Rescuer, the only One who can “clothe you with garments of salvation [and] wrap you with a robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10).

Meet me at the table, won’t you? Let’s sit together!

Comments (2) Nov 30 2012

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners.  Isaiah 61:1

I’ve been away from my blog for too long—but I’ve been busy for the cause!

Yes, my sacrifice for the sake of scouting out national parks was to go to Hawaii. Such a hardship. You’ll be reading about the life lessons I learned at the parks there in future posts.

For now, though, I bring you news about an exciting celebration happening tomorrow, Friday, a little closer to home. The Statue of Liberty is celebrating its 125^th anniversary!

Morning festivities include a citizenship ceremony (for a little insight into what that’s like, see the article I wrote for USA Today), music, readings and a “water parade” in New York harbor, all presided over by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. A new “torch webcam” will begin operation, offering bird’s-eye views from Lady Liberty’s torch 24/7. The day ends with a bang—literally—with fireworks, which will be streamed live over the website.

All these events mirror the dedication of the Statue on October 28, 1886, when President Grover Cleveland dedicated “Liberty Enlightening the World,” a gift of friendship from the people of France. A fireworks display topped that day, too, along with a flotilla of ships, and New York City held its first ever ticker tape parade.

I was just reminiscing with a friend about how we celebrated the Statue’s centennial in July, 1986. Joe and I had scored three free tickets to a concert to be held at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, right across the harbor from Lady Liberty (she actually is closer to New Jersey than New York; unfortunately, her, uh, backside is to us. No Jersey jokes please…). So the two of us and a friend made our way over there on July 3. I had just found out I was pregnant, which added to the excitement.

What I remember most from that night was that it was very windy, and the organizers had worked out this elaborate but terribly inefficient system of having us concertgoers park far away, and then transporting us by bus to the actual concert site. Needless to say, it was a madhouse afterwards, and we didn’t get home until early morning of the next day.

That evening, Joe thought it would be fun if we went up to the top of the tower at the college where he worked in Jersey City, which would offer a great view of the New York/New Jersey harbor (this is also where he watched the World Trade Center towers burn and collapse years later). We’d be able to see the relighting of the torch, which had just been refurbished, and the accompanying fireworks.

Problem was, the way up there is…a challenge. It involves climbing two vertical ladders, crouching along an attic walkway, and ends in an awkward scramble to the roof. We had invited another couple, who brought along their baby. Hauling him up was quite a feat.

Once we got situated (in chairs that Joe brought up), we quickly became chilly, because it was still very windy, so Joe traipsed back down to the theatre’s costume shop and got us some warmer clothes. We listened to the ceremonies on the radio (which Joe also carried up), and when President Reagan threw the switch for the torch, we oohed and aahed. And boy, did Joe pick a good spot for the fireworks!

Getting back down was downright scary. You have to make a small leap from the roof to the first ladder, and our friends were beside themselves trying to figure out how to do it with their son. Finally, Joe lashed the baby to himself with some of the costume shop clothes, and bounded over to the ladder (he brought him down the second ladder the same way). And did I mention I was six weeks pregnant?

But I digress.

Liberty is an overarching theme in Scripture. The verse I quoted at the beginning describes the ministry of the Messiah in a nutshell, prophesized by Isaiah some 700 years before Jesus’ birth. In the gospel of Luke, the writer relates the story of the day when Jesus entered the synagogue, was handed the book of Isaiah, and read that same passage. “He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:16-20).

Let’s just say that all the good feelings they had for Him before (vv. 15, 22) quickly dissipated (vv. 28, 29). How dare He make that claim!

Ah, but it’s true:

–“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:2)

–“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:32, 36)

–“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Don’t believe the lie that Christianity is merely a set of do’s and don’ts, a long list of “thou shalt nots,” of rules and regulations not relevant or applicable to modern times. The problems of yesterday are the problems we still face today—worry, fear, grief, loneliness, trying to figure out what life’s all about—and the Bible addresses them all. “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest,” Jesus tenderly pleads in Matthew 11:28-30. “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.

This “perfect law, the law of liberty” (James 1:25, 2:12) is freely available for all who believe in Jesus, God’s Son (John 1:12, 8:31). There are no ladders to climb, nothing to do but take a (yes, sometimes scary) leap of faith. Jesus has already done all the heavy lifting and made provision for every need.

But I promise you (and more importantly, God promises you—2 Peter 1:4, 3:13) that the result is really worth it.

Comments (5) Oct 27 2011

May 3, 2010

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26

My favorite website about the national parks—aside from the National Park Service site, of course—is National Parks Traveler. A few weeks ago, founder and Editor-in Chief Kurt Repanshek wrote a review of a new book, Ranger Confidential: Living, Working and Dying in the National Parks, by former ranger Andrea Lankford.

The image of park rangers, as Mr. Repanshek notes, is as “fit and polite, beaming dazzling smiles, displaying knowledge that knows no bounds, armed with nerves of steel, and with dashing personalities” (undoubtedly, the spiffy uniforms and distinctive hat add to this illusion). This ideal, however, contrasts with many accounts in the book: “Ms. Lankford tells us of highly placed rangers who, when angered, throw tantrums, throw safety helmets, kick medical kits, smack fellow rangers in the head with paddles…[of] sexual harassment within the ranks [and] pitiful housing conditions for both rangers and concessions employees, of park employees killed on the job, of suicides in the parks.”

Amazon describes Ranger Confidential as a “graphic and yet surprisingly funny account of her and others’ extraordinary careers. Lankford unveils a world in which park rangers struggle to maintain their idealism in the face of death, disillusionment, and the loss of a comrade killed while holding that thin green line between protecting the park from the people, the people from the park, and the people from each other.”

Of course, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that park rangers have their faults and foibles; after all, they’re people just like us. The fact is, everyone stumbles and falls (Romans 3:23). None of us lives up to our ideals all the time, Christians included.

But sometimes we Christians forget that. We fall prey to the lie that we always have to be happy, act perfectly, and look like we have it all together in order to represent God properly. The struggle to maintain Christian idealism in the face of the hard facts of life—to be, as Jesus puts it, “shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16)—is one of the biggest challenges of living God’s way, I find. Being honest about how we find strength and help in the midst of temptations and trials is the best example of showing that God is real, loving and active in human affairs.

Mr. Repanshek concludes his review by saying, “What should be made of Ranger Confidential and the image of the Park Service it casts? In one respect, perhaps it should be realized that for an agency with some 20,000 employees, many who naturally are hard-charging and living on the edge, and whose budget is controlled not only by Congress but by political appointees, perfection cannot exist, no matter how idealistic the Park Service is viewed. And yet, despite the hardships and the inequities that exist in the agency, there is something to be said about wearing the gray and the green, as Ms. Lankford seems to imply in her closing words.”

Perfection doesn’t exist in the Christian life either, at least this side of heaven. And yet, despite the hardships and inequities that exist here on earth, there is something to be said about the uniform we wear as God’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20): “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10).

Comments (2) May 05 2010