I couldn’t think of another way to capture your attention other than this expression I heard several times over the course of two nights watching a number of adrenalin-pumping films at the Banff Mountain Film Festival, in its 19th year in Charlottesville. Also, apart from “disorderly” I couldn’t think of other synonyms for “unruly”- so as I am prone to do, I looked up the word in question and found some good matches: “obstreperous” and “recalcitrant” as well as the one I liked most, “wild.”
There is a common thread in these films – people pursuing their dreams – no matter how unruly or wild. Whether it’s kayaking over an 80′ waterfall; searching for an ancient species of frog in Guyana; surfing for three months in winter off the coast of Norway near the Arctic Circle; out skiing an avalanche – on purpose, mind you – or flying using only a special jump suit called a “wing suit” through an archway called Heaven’s Gate in northern China (think superman), these adventurers have an utterly unique relationship with fear. They experience it alright, yet it practically becomes fuel for doing what they believe they were born to do.
Interestingly, my favorite film was a short one about a “regular guy” who, as he proclaims in the narrative, lives passionately. In his mind there is simply no other way. As a rock climber, he hasn’t accomplished any particularly monumental feat. He sums up his philosophy like this, “After all these years (he’s only 35), I refuse to believe that joy costs something or we have to get on a plane to find it; that it has to happen on our vacation and that dreams can’t come true on a Tuesday.”
I love that! As well as his final reflection, “I try to collect moments. I step back and watch the movie that is my life for just a second because it’s really easy to miss the good stuff – the magic when it happens. I try really hard to realize it when it’s amazing and even when it’s not.”
His heroes by the way “don’t have to be good at throwing or catching balls” and subsequently being glorified in the media. His heroes are his climbing partners, the blind man crossing the street, a child beholding in wonder a dew-laden leaf.
This got me thinking about my heroes. Today, they are an ordinary family in Virginia Beach who have faced extraordinary circumstances. My precious niece, Meg and her husband Scott’s baby was diagnosed in utero with a genetic disorder called Trisomy 13 last November. Baby Jack – as many have come to know him – was born last Thursday and departed this world 2 1/2 days later.
Those who haven’t even met this family fell in love with Jack – and his parents too – through the poignant unfolding of the story via e-mail. His parents’ divine perspective and unwavering faith have inspired untold numbers. One of the most powerful communications was from my nephew who shared how excited they were to see how God was going to use their baby “to reveal His glory.”
My niece and nephew collected moments in lieu of “chasing time” – throughout the pregnancy and in the hospital during Jack’s fleeting time on earth – all the while anticipating joy of what God was going to do next.
The hall marks of their journey were “gracious uncertainty” and “breathless expectancy” as Oswald Chambers describes. Most of the rest of us are so attached to our common-sense outcome, a sought-for accomplishment and the elusive finish line, becoming acutely discouraged when we encounter a “false summit” or shattered dream.
We so want to arrive and know the ending, don’t we? We’re on the rock wall clinging by our fingertips while one leg starts to shake like a sewing machine, which is exactly what I experienced during a NOLS course. “Trust your feet” was what the instructors would say to propel us onward and upward, no matter how far away the top seemed to be.
Well, I believe that trust is where we put feet to our prayers. And prayer is a vehicle for life-altering surrender. Chambers writes, “If you’re faced with the question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him. And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.”
How beautiful.
Just as my niece and nephew have done so exquisitely, trust. Trust that there is indeed One who is painting a tapestry, writing a story, composing a symphony with your life.
You may just have to trust on someone else’s behalf, too. Only then can you truly fly . . . and so can they.
No wing suit required.
– Caroline Watkins
