Again I highly encourage you to pick up that book to get a good context of what this story relates to. Would you let go of the rope?Rabbi Edwin Friedman tells the story of a man who had given much thought to what he wanted from life. After trying many things, succeeding at some and failing at others, he finally decided what he wanted.
One day the opportunity came for him to experience exactly the way of living that he had dreamed about. But the opportunity would be available only for a short time. It would not wait, and it would not come again.
Eager to take advantage of this open pathway, the man started on his journey. With each step, he moved faster and faster. Each time he thought about his goal, his heart beat quicker; and with each vision of what lay ahead, he found renewed vigor.
As he hurried along, he came to a bridge that crossed through the middle of a town. The bridge spanned high above a dangerous river.
After starting across the bridge, he noticed someone coming the opposite direction. The stranger seemed to be coming toward him to greet him. A the stranger grew closer, the man could discern that they didn’t know each other, but yet they looked amazingly similar. They were even dressed alike. The only difference was that the stranger had a rope wrapped many times around his waist. If stretched out, the rope would reach a length of perhaps thirty feet.
The stranger began to unwrap the rope as he walked. Just as the two men were about to meet, the stranger said, “Pardon me, would you be so kind as to hold the end of the rope for me?”
The man agreed without a thought, reached out, and took it.“Thank you,” said the stranger. He then added, “Two hands now, and remember, hold tight.” At that point, the stranger jumped off the bridge.
The man on the bridge abruptly felt a strong pull from the now-extended rope. He automatically held tight and was almost dragged over the side of the bridge.
“What are you trying to do?” he shouted to the stranger below.
“Just hold tight,” said the stranger.
This is ridiculous, the man thought. He began trying to haul the other man in. Yet it was just beyond his strength to bring the other back to safety.
Again he yelled over the edge, “Why did you do this?”
“Remember,” said the other, “if you let go, I will be lost.”
“But I cannot pull you up,” the man cried.
“I am your responsibility,” said the other.
“I did not ask for it,” the man said.
“If you let go, I am lost,” repeated the stranger.
The man began to look around for help. No one was within sight.
He began to think about his predicament. Here he was eagerly pursuing a unique opportunity, and now he was being sidetracked for who knows how long.
Maybe I can tie the rope somewhere, he thought. He examined the bridge carefully, but there was no way to get rid of his new found burden.
So he again yelled over the edge, “What do you want?”
“Just your help,” came the answer.
“How can I help? I cannot pull you in, and there is no place to tie the rope while I find someone else who could help you.”
“Just keep hanging on,” replied the dangling man. “That will be enough.”
Fearing that his arms could not hold out much longer, he tied the rope around his waist.
“Why did you do this?” he asked again. “Don’t you see who you have done? What possible purpose could you have in mind?”“Just remember,” said the other, “my life is in your hands.”
Now the man was perplexed. He reasoned within himself, If I let go, all my life I will know that I let this other man die. If I stay, I risk losing my momentum toward my own long-sought-after salvation. Either way this will haunt me forever.
As time went by, still no one came. The man became keenly aware that it was almost too late to resume his journey. If he didn’t leave immediately, he wouldn’t arrive in time.
Finally, he devised a plan. “Listen,” he explained to the man hanging below, “I think I know how to save you.” He mapped out the idea. The stranger could climb back up by wrapping the rope around him. Loop by loop, the rope would become shorter.
But the dangling man had no interest in the idea.
“I don’t think I can hang on much longer,” warned the man on the bridge.
“You must try,” appealed the stranger. “If you fail, I die.”
Suddenly a new idea struck the man on the bridge. It was different and even alien to his normal way of thinking. “I want you to listen carefully,” he said, “because I mean what I am about to say.”
The dangling man indicated that he was listening.
“I will not accept the position of choice for your life, only for my own; I hereby give back the position of choice for your own life to you.”
“What do you mean?” the other asked, afraid.
“I mean, simply, it’s up to you. You decide which way this ends. I will become the counterweight. You do the pulling and bring yourself up. I will even tug some from here.”
He unwound the rope from around his waist and braced himself to be a counterweight. He was ready to help as soon as the dangling man began to act.“You cannot mean what you say,” the other shrieked. “You would not be so selfish. I am your responsibility. What could be so important that you would let someone die? Do not do this to me.”
After a long pause, the man on the bridge uttered slowly, “I accept your choice.” In voicing those words, he freed his hands and continued his journey over the bridge.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
How many ropes do you hold?
I have had several situations come up over the last few months where folks tend to take on more than what is they should be responsible for. Trust me I know as I was very guilty of this. I thought I would share this story that I read from the book Emotionally Healthy Church by Peter Scazzero. I highly recommend this book as it deals more about your own Christian health as opposed to the Church itself. This is a direct excerpt from the book:
Friday, October 7, 2011
Moved In
We have officially been at 10,050 ft now for a little over a week and absolutely love it in our new home. It has been an adjustment. We have grieved the loss of the familiar but are excited about the new adventures that lie before us. We really didn't have any issues acclimating to the altitude, God's grace I guess, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous! I think one of the biggest misconceptions about the mountains is that it is cold. While the temps are lower, the proximity to the sun, the amount of sunshine and the dry air really make it pleasant, heck I was out in jeans and a t-shirt in the morning while it was about 25. As I write this there is snow on the ground outside, probably about 50 degrees and a majority of the windows are open just to keep the house cool.
Yes I did mention snow, it snowed yesterday here. It probably dropped 2-3 inches, but most of it has melted away. On the top Mount Elbert and Mount Massive the storm yesterday probably dropped 2-3 ft! They look absolutely beautiful against the blue sky. The snow did come a bit early this year, or so I'm told, and we are expecting another 3 inches tomorrow. It will all melt off by Monday. One of the misconceptions that we have, or so we've been told, is that even though the snow around here piles up we don't get it in a few big snow storms, rather we get all of the snow over many, many little snows usually 4-8in at a time. The temps don't allow the snow to melt. The roads are very well maintained, the sun usually melts the snow off the pavement very quickly, or the snow simply evaporates. It's kind of weird. All that said, we love the snow and the cooler temps.
Another aspect of living up here that we are adjusting to is how quiet it is and how dark it gets. We are only a mile from the Leadville main street (Harrison Ave), but we don't live in the city limits and at night you can actually see the cloud of stars. (I will try and get a pic of this at some point.) The boys and I walked the perimeter of our property (we have 11 acres) at night and turned off the lights. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face! It was kind of eerie but when you looked up and saw the stars... WOW!
The boys are loving it, they have so much room! They are eagerly awaiting the migration of the elk down from the mountains and the other animals to show up. On the property we have seen the evidence of wapiti (elk), mulies (mule deer), fox, bear, coyotes, and possibly mountain lion, although it's hard to tell the difference between the scat of mountain lions and coyotes. We have seen the tracks, but they looked pretty old.
The Lord has been so faithful to us. We did attend services at the Community Church of Leadville and have already made some great friends. The boys have spent a couple of days over at their houses which was such a help while our movers were here delivering all of our stuff! Folks have been extremely friendly, we look forward to forging those new relationships.
So far so good, our first week has been filled with joy and with tears, all in all good. We miss our old friends and family, and look forward to the new. Our first week of this journey is over, now onto the second!
All of the pics below are taken from our back deck.
Sunset over Massive and Elbert:
Mount Elbert (Tallest Peak in the Rocky Mountains):
Mount Massive (Second tallest peak in the Rocky Mountains):
Yes I did mention snow, it snowed yesterday here. It probably dropped 2-3 inches, but most of it has melted away. On the top Mount Elbert and Mount Massive the storm yesterday probably dropped 2-3 ft! They look absolutely beautiful against the blue sky. The snow did come a bit early this year, or so I'm told, and we are expecting another 3 inches tomorrow. It will all melt off by Monday. One of the misconceptions that we have, or so we've been told, is that even though the snow around here piles up we don't get it in a few big snow storms, rather we get all of the snow over many, many little snows usually 4-8in at a time. The temps don't allow the snow to melt. The roads are very well maintained, the sun usually melts the snow off the pavement very quickly, or the snow simply evaporates. It's kind of weird. All that said, we love the snow and the cooler temps.
Another aspect of living up here that we are adjusting to is how quiet it is and how dark it gets. We are only a mile from the Leadville main street (Harrison Ave), but we don't live in the city limits and at night you can actually see the cloud of stars. (I will try and get a pic of this at some point.) The boys and I walked the perimeter of our property (we have 11 acres) at night and turned off the lights. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face! It was kind of eerie but when you looked up and saw the stars... WOW!
The boys are loving it, they have so much room! They are eagerly awaiting the migration of the elk down from the mountains and the other animals to show up. On the property we have seen the evidence of wapiti (elk), mulies (mule deer), fox, bear, coyotes, and possibly mountain lion, although it's hard to tell the difference between the scat of mountain lions and coyotes. We have seen the tracks, but they looked pretty old.
The Lord has been so faithful to us. We did attend services at the Community Church of Leadville and have already made some great friends. The boys have spent a couple of days over at their houses which was such a help while our movers were here delivering all of our stuff! Folks have been extremely friendly, we look forward to forging those new relationships.
So far so good, our first week has been filled with joy and with tears, all in all good. We miss our old friends and family, and look forward to the new. Our first week of this journey is over, now onto the second!
All of the pics below are taken from our back deck.
Sunset over Massive and Elbert:
Mount Elbert (Tallest Peak in the Rocky Mountains):
Mount Massive (Second tallest peak in the Rocky Mountains):
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Go West Young Man
"...Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country." - popularized by Horace Greeley
I am not so young anymore, but I feel it and my sons are young!
As you can probably tell from earlier posts Shannon and I have long had a dream of moving to Colorado, and I don't mean to Denver or other areas in the front range, but to a place where the mountains touch the sky, the elk and bear still run wild and the snow falls deep! We have spent the last three years praying about moving to Colorado, at first it was simply because we loved the scenery and the weather; however over those three years the Lord revealed to us exactly what was truly in our hearts.
God's favor was upon me when I had three sons, each of my sons has their own personality and tastes but they are all boy. They love to run, wrestle, explore, and be dangerous. As I have grown older and watched my boys get bigger I began to realize that all my dreams, anything that I wanted to accomplish was trumped by what legacy I would leave in my sons. Whatever in life I would do, whether be someone famous, make a lot of money, or just be the ordinary person that somehow makes their way through life succumbing to the culture all of those things would eventually be forgotten. The one thing that would not be forgotten is the legacy that I leave with my sons. That starts out with loving my wife. (That could be a whole other post in and of itself) It also starts with being actively involved in my sons' lives. Now I can do those things regardless of where I live. So much of what we pass to our children though is through how we live, there is the saying that "much more is caught than taught" and that is the truth.
What the Lord has so carefully revealed to us about ourselves is that we must go west so that we can learn to live again, out of the safety of the familiar, out on our own if you will. We are blazing a new trail that will have repercussions for many generations on my family, on my sons, on their, children, and on their children's children. You get my point. Living out there where we can all explore together, live in the unfamiliar together, my boys will get a chance to "catch" how to live amongst the challenges, amongst those mountains that call a young man to reach the top, the white water rivers that dare us to ride them if you can and after all that to sit quietly in the solitude of it all and pray together. Well one might say that those challenges exist wherever you live, they do; however it is a call to my heart that only the Lord truly understands. Some people are awe inspired by the majesty of a thunderstorm, some by the intricacies of a flower, I am awe inspired by the mountains. Watch that scene at the beginning of A River Runs Through It where the two young brothers are running in the mountains, some folks will through their cynicism and own hurting heart will trash it, but those that admit their brokenness and seek the awesomeness of God will be stirred. I was.
I don't expect anyone to truly understand the fullness of our move, read Wild At Heart by John Eldredge to catch a glimpse. We are truly heading on another great adventure, it won't be an easy one by any means. This moving journey so far has been filled with ups and downs, but the Lord constantly reminds me, Matt, "Don't miss the Journey". I am trying not to.
Exactly two weeks from today our house will be packed up and we will be on our way out west to settle in Leadville, CO. It is about 100 miles west of Denver nestled between the Sawatch Range and the Mosquito Range. On average it receives about 150 inches of snow each winter, has an average summer high of 71 degrees and averages 310 days of sunshine a year. Leadville sits at 10,200 feet above sea level.
We are very excited, albeit right now it is very surreal, we are also nervous and scared. It is very different from everything that we are familiar with. The Lord will see us through it. Don't miss the journey.
I am not so young anymore, but I feel it and my sons are young!
As you can probably tell from earlier posts Shannon and I have long had a dream of moving to Colorado, and I don't mean to Denver or other areas in the front range, but to a place where the mountains touch the sky, the elk and bear still run wild and the snow falls deep! We have spent the last three years praying about moving to Colorado, at first it was simply because we loved the scenery and the weather; however over those three years the Lord revealed to us exactly what was truly in our hearts.
God's favor was upon me when I had three sons, each of my sons has their own personality and tastes but they are all boy. They love to run, wrestle, explore, and be dangerous. As I have grown older and watched my boys get bigger I began to realize that all my dreams, anything that I wanted to accomplish was trumped by what legacy I would leave in my sons. Whatever in life I would do, whether be someone famous, make a lot of money, or just be the ordinary person that somehow makes their way through life succumbing to the culture all of those things would eventually be forgotten. The one thing that would not be forgotten is the legacy that I leave with my sons. That starts out with loving my wife. (That could be a whole other post in and of itself) It also starts with being actively involved in my sons' lives. Now I can do those things regardless of where I live. So much of what we pass to our children though is through how we live, there is the saying that "much more is caught than taught" and that is the truth.
What the Lord has so carefully revealed to us about ourselves is that we must go west so that we can learn to live again, out of the safety of the familiar, out on our own if you will. We are blazing a new trail that will have repercussions for many generations on my family, on my sons, on their, children, and on their children's children. You get my point. Living out there where we can all explore together, live in the unfamiliar together, my boys will get a chance to "catch" how to live amongst the challenges, amongst those mountains that call a young man to reach the top, the white water rivers that dare us to ride them if you can and after all that to sit quietly in the solitude of it all and pray together. Well one might say that those challenges exist wherever you live, they do; however it is a call to my heart that only the Lord truly understands. Some people are awe inspired by the majesty of a thunderstorm, some by the intricacies of a flower, I am awe inspired by the mountains. Watch that scene at the beginning of A River Runs Through It where the two young brothers are running in the mountains, some folks will through their cynicism and own hurting heart will trash it, but those that admit their brokenness and seek the awesomeness of God will be stirred. I was.
I don't expect anyone to truly understand the fullness of our move, read Wild At Heart by John Eldredge to catch a glimpse. We are truly heading on another great adventure, it won't be an easy one by any means. This moving journey so far has been filled with ups and downs, but the Lord constantly reminds me, Matt, "Don't miss the Journey". I am trying not to.
Exactly two weeks from today our house will be packed up and we will be on our way out west to settle in Leadville, CO. It is about 100 miles west of Denver nestled between the Sawatch Range and the Mosquito Range. On average it receives about 150 inches of snow each winter, has an average summer high of 71 degrees and averages 310 days of sunshine a year. Leadville sits at 10,200 feet above sea level.
We are very excited, albeit right now it is very surreal, we are also nervous and scared. It is very different from everything that we are familiar with. The Lord will see us through it. Don't miss the journey.
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