Life Lessons from the National Parks

April 25, 2012

The very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Matthew 10:30

The statistics on national park visitation in 2011 are out. They show that among the National Park Service units (all 397 of them), the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia was the most visited. A close second is on the opposite coast, California’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Of the 58 units designated as National Parks, Great Smoky Mountains is number one; Grand Canyon is in second place, with nearly 5 million less visitors. An exhaustive list of the numbers for each unit, searchable by location, name and ranking, can be found here.

Behind these figures is recent data showing that “the average visitor to some of the nation’s parks and wilderness areas is getting grayer,” according to an article in USA Today. It’s a worrisome trend. “Without ‘a generation of kids who have had good experiences with national parks, then in a very short amount of time, we may not have enough people who care about [them] to keep them going,’ says John Hayes of the Dunes Learning Center at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.”

Reaching out to young people in a variety of ways is a priority of the Park Service. Disney is even getting in on the act, awarding the National Park Foundation $500,000 to help connect kids and families to nature through the parks. The money will go specifically to the foundation’s “Ticket to Ride” and “America’s Best Idea” programs, which provide transportation to and support community projects in the parks.

As you might know, there’s a book in the Bible called Numbers. It’s part of the Pentateuch, or Torah, the first five books of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. The Hebrew title is taken from its first verse, and means “in the wilderness,” because most of Numbers records the history of the Israelites in the forty years of wandering in the Sinai wilderness. The Greek translation of the Old Testament entitles the book Numbers, because of the prominence of census figures (in chapters 1-3 and 26). Numbers also contains a well-known and beautiful blessing: “The Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace” (6:24-26).

Numbers was written at the same time as the book of Exodus, with the same author—Moses. It was he who brought the Hebrews out of Egypt after 430 years of bondage (Exodus 3-14), planning to lead them to the land God had set aside for them (Exodus 3:8, Genesis 13:14-17).

Unfortunately, once they crossed the Red Sea into the desert region between Egypt and Palestine, they forsook gratitude and began complaining. “Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you [Moses] have brought us out into this wilderness to kill us” (Exodus 16:3). They forgot that the God who miraculously made a way for them to escape slavery was more than able to provide them with food, water and anything else they needed as they traveled toward the Promised Land.

Things got so bad that finally the Lord decreed, “Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to you…Your children, however…I will bring them in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected. But as for you, your corpses shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they shall suffer for your unfaithfulness” (Numbers 14:30-33).  Only two men who remained faithful—Caleb and Joshua—survived to enter the land.

Life holds plenty of wildernesses, but God has vowed He will help us through them (John 16:33). “Be strong and courageous,” Moses encouraged the people, “do not be afraid or tremble, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). That same message is repeated over and over again throughout Scripture (Joshua 11:6-9, 1 Chronicles 28:20, Hebrews 13:5, among other verses).

The God who knows us so well that He keeps track of every hair on our head is certainly big enough to handle anything that happens to us.

I’m “counting” on that!

Comments (1) Apr 25 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