It’s 3:45 AM. I’m in a hospital downtown Louisville. It’s a hospice hospital. In the room down the floor is a man in my congregation. He is sleeping; his mother is sacked out in a chair next to him. He’s been dying of cancer for about 18 months now. He requested that members of his congregation come be with him.
I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like for him. His oldest son is serving an LDS Church mission in Nevada. He has 4 girls at home.
4:30 AM. Kirk woke up and I’ve joined him. His mother-in-law went home. His life now seems to be mostly a roller-coaster of pain. The ups and downs are dictated by the timing of the pain medication.
He prayed with his mother-in-law before she left. I guess that’s a sign of faith, to be laying there, in pain, and praying for help. I wonder what sort of help God gives to people in his condition. It doesn’t seem that he takes the pain away. Now only drugs are doing that. Does he give you peace? Does he just watch? Maybe the pain and the anxiety are just the table stakes for being here – and you just have to go through it? I don’t know. What do those prayers mean?
Kirk is about my age.
We were talking… He can’t lift his legs any longer. He said the cancer stole his muscles. He showed me his arms – the muscle is all gone. There’s just skin, tendons, and bones. When he was healthy, Kirk could move the world.
To hike the Narrows, you need a permit. The group size is also limited – to something like 12 people or so. In our hike last Saturday, as I mentioned in an earlier post, me, my dad, and my brother-in-law finished very late. We were part of a larger group – with people on two permits. At the beginning of the hike, we separated into a bunch of smaller groups and, like I said, when I got out, there were just 3 of us. My sister and a friend waited at the end of the trail, so when we left the park, there were 5 of us.
Earlier that evening someone in that earlier group called the park ranger to tell them that we were still in the canyon. So, when we finally got out of the park, there was a ranger waiting for us. We climbed off the shuttle and he came rushing up to us. Not because he was concerned about our well-being, but because he wanted to give us a ticket for being in too large a group.
This guy was a real jerk. First of all, all he had to do was to look and see that there were only 5 of us. And, given that someone else had called much earlier in the day, he could easily deduce that other people had finished much earlier (there’s no cell reception in the narrows). Next thing we know he’s threatening to give us a ticket for being in too large a group (there were only 5 of us so we were way below the limit). In the end, he just wrote a warning.
I’m sure this guy was upset that he was pulled away from his favorite TV show. Instead of caring about the people in the park, we were an annoyance to him.
It’s just another example of the principle I teach my kids: Only in the direst of emergencies do you ever call the police. Once they show up, you don’t know what kind of havoc they’ll cause. They’re just as likely to shoot you as they would an intruder. Call someone you trust. If you’re ever out doing something and you come in contact with the police, don’t talk to them. Don’t say anything.
This past weekend I hiked the Zion Narrows with my sister, brother-in-law, and father. I must first begin by noting – I forgot how stunningly beautiful the entire Zions National Park area is. The Narrows hike is roughly 16 miles. You start in a field with a stream running through it. By the time you’re finished, you’ve hiked through areas where the walls are 800 feet high (or more) and where in some places the canyon walls are no more than 10 feet wide. The rocks are all sorts of colors, from pinks, to reds, to browns, to blacks. You’ll see trees growing out of cracks you’d be hard pressed to cram 2 fingers into. From beginning to end, it’s an amazing experience.
My dad is almost 70 – and as a result, he’s a little slower than most hikers. We started at 8:30 AM and finished at 10:00 PM. I’ve hiked the Narrows twice before. This was the first time I hiked at night. For an hour or so, we had bats flying all around us. They would skim the water and fly right by you. Very cool. After the sun went down, we were able to hike with the moonlight lighting the canyon rim. Ah, what a great time.
I didn’t get a chance this time, but need to visit again and climb Angels Landing. I want to do it with the fam. We’ll have to rope them together for some parts. Can’t have a wee one taking that one big last step.
What a great hike!
So, If I’m denied an entrance at the pearly gates, I might respond, “Well, can I just go to Fairplay, Colorado then?”
For our family vacation this year, we visited Colorado. We left on Thursday afternoon and drove to Denver. From Louisville, it’s 1100 miles or so. We drove straight through – arriving in Denver around noon. Elane and I were toast, so we just hung out at the Sheraton (south of downtown off I-25) that night. On Saturday, we drove to the Deer Creek area, just west of SW Denver. It was a beautiful. SW Denver is a beautiful area.
Sunday, we attended church somewhere south of the loop and then took Highway 285 to Fariplay. It was nice, headed into the mountains, while everyone else was driving back. We camped in the Fourmile campground just SW of Fariplay. It’s beautiful back there. We were there Sunday through Thursday.
One morning we did a hike up Mt. Sherman (14,125 or so). The entire family started the hike and probably made it to 12,500 or so. Looking at how fast we were burning through water, Elane and the younger ones went back to the car. I continued with the 4 oldest. We made it to the saddle. Then Joshua and I continued to the Summit. I didn’t have a camera with me!!! so there’s no record of the summit. : )
On Thursday, we drove to Dillion and camped there until Saturday. On Friday, Hyrum, Allison and I climbed Quandry Peak (14,265 or so). I was very impressed with how they did. Hyrum was really cruising. Allison did great as well. Quandry is a tough hike. The final push is just a straight climb up a fairly steep slope. Nothing technical, just a grind. On the way down, we came across 4 – 5 mountain goats. At times, they were within 10 feet of Hyrum and Allison. They thought that was the highlight of the hike.
I had several people stop me and ask Hyrum’s age. One guy asked how long he’d been hiking. I looked at my watch and said, “What time is it?” There were a lot of people climbing Quandry that day. I’m envious of the ones for whom this was a day hike.
We ended up camping in Dillon in the same spot we camped last year – site 53, in the campground just off the Dam Road.
Then, there was the drive back… We left Saturday at noon and drove all day. It’s the hardest thing I do, watch the mountains disappear in the background. We drove to somewhere in Kansas and spent the night. Sunday, in the car again, all day. We arrived home at 12:30 in the morning.
The kids were great in the car. They’re packed like sardines in there.
I’m drawn to the mountains. It’s hard to explain. I think there’s something to climbing those big peaks. I think there’s something to my kids being able to say they’ve done it. When you’re climbing that mountain, it’s only you. You can look down from the top and see that you did something impressive. I hope it helps them.
I think a portion of my heart resides in Colorado.
Wednesday night I was returning to Louisville from Phoenix. Two segments: first to Dallas/Fort Worth then to Louisville. On the second segment, I sat next to Kelly from Louisville. She’s a couple of years older than I am. She’s divorced, but engaged with a date in October. We had a great discussion about a wide range of topics. Through that discussion, I learned she is Christian. I took the opportunity to ask her “How did you come to know Jesus?” Here is her answer.
She grew up having her parents drop her off at church (church services served as a babysitter for them). She never was spiritually involved, however, reflecting back, she can think of instances where God was reaching out to her.
Not sure on the age range, but she went her own way and did her own thing. Somehow, she ended up a newlywed living in Australia. One morning, about six months into her marriage, she said “I love you” to her spouse – with no response. She asked further and learned he didn’t love her anymore. In short order, she was kicked out, with no money, no way to get home, and nowhere to go. Neighbors, with an unfinished house (she talked about “3 walls”) took her in. Their generosity got her out of the weather, but it wasn’t a great solution.
She didn’t know what to do. She was very upset. Searching for something to do, she had the thought, “Call a church.” She dialed several numbers and eventually spoke to the wife of a pastor. The wife could tell she was in trouble and immediately insisted that she come pick her up. She did, took Kelly to their home and took care of her. Kelly said that she slept the first 24 hours solid. Anyway, the kind couple gave her enough stability that she could get on her feet.
Somewhere, in the midst of this, her heart was broken and she reached out to God – and felt God’s response. She said that she was the type how needed to hit rock bottom before she would make that move. She described her conversion as happening in two stages (she used terms I don’t recall). The first one was that event while she was in Australia - feeling God's love for her. The second was when she returned to the United States, and was, as I recall, more of an event where she committed herself to God.
Her spouse-to-be sounds like a great guy. October should be a joyous time for them both.
Great story. Thanks Kelly. I wish you the best.
