Dependence
Many people considered the man a very spiritual individual. He
prayed a great deal, fasted as often as circumstances permitted, kept
night vigils during which he continuously sang the praises of
Divinity, went on various journeys to sacred landmarks, and tried to
lead a good life, including being as charitable and kind as he could
toward one and all.
The man, himself, was fairly humble but he did take his religious
pursuits very seriously. Currently, he was attempting to struggle
with a spiritual condition in which developing a dependence on
Divinity was of fundamental importance.
One day he was walking in the forest, which he liked to do
because of his love for nature and the way all of Creation reminded
him of the Creator. The area was new to him which he also liked
since he enjoyed exploration and being exposed to diverse
experiences.
Suddenly, his nose twitched with the first whiff of a harbinger
that wafted through the air. Smoke.
At first, he thought there might be a camp site or cabin nearby
which was generating what he was smelling. Very quickly, however,
there was not only far too much of the smoke for it to be from a
simple camp fire or a camp chimney, but also he began to see
different creatures of the forest begin to scatter in different
directions – not a good sign.
Above the sound of a small river which ran through the forest,
the man could begin to hear the distant crackle, pop, and roar of a
substantial fire. He began to be concerned.
Based on the nature of the smoke in the air, he thought he knew
where the main body of the fire might be located. But, he couldn’t be
sure.
Forest fires were tricky customers. They jumped from place to
place, sometimes with alarming speed.
Furthermore, one couldn’t always trust one’s immediate senses
since wind currents, atmospheric conditions, and the geographical
properties of the area where a fire was raging could all affect how the
fire burned, where it went, and so on, and, consequently, one, easily,
could misread the signs. If one wasn’t careful, one’s eyes, ears, and
nose might tell one was heading toward safety and, yet, nonetheless,
one could run smack into the very thing one was trying to avoid.
The man was facing some additional problems. Not only wasn’t
he very familiar with the surrounding terrain, but he somehow had
become lost and disoriented while wandering about.
Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem. It had happened with him
before and, usually, given enough time and effort, he always had
managed to find his way back to familiar ground.
Now, he didn’t have the luxury of time. Which way should he
go?
The man did not panic. He composed himself, knowing his best
chance to survive was to remain calm and thoughtful about the
situation.
Furthermore, he had been trained, by his spiritual mentors, to
respond to the crises and problems of life by always seeking Divine
assistance. Consequently, he said a quick prayer while trying to come
to a reasoned and speedy decision about what to do.
One should always depend on Divinity for help. Yet, this
dependence needed to be balanced with trying to do whatever one
could to help oneself ... indeed, an old cowboy he once read about
used to say – one needs to trust in God, but, son, don’t forget to tie
your horse.
He felt, as a first step, that he should move toward the river, so,
he began quickly walking in the general direction of where he
believed the water to be. A short while later he was on the bank of
the river, which was neither large nor small.
There was a bend in the river at this point, and trees from both
side were hanging over the water, making it difficult to get clear
information about where the fire might be. As he was looking
downstream, he heard a voice hail him.
A woman in a canoe was coming down the river. She was
heading toward the bank where he stood, and she said: “Come on,
get in, we’ll be able to paddle our way out of trouble.”
The man hesitated. He considered the possibility that following
the river downstream might not be the right way to go.
Something within him seemed to suggest that trouble could very
well be the only thing which he might find downstream. He waved
the woman off, saying: “No, I do not believe that is the way Divinity
wishes me to go.”
The woman was first concerned that the man seemed to be
refusing her help, and, then, shrugged. She was worried about saving
her own skin as well, so she began paddling away from shore and
picked up speed when she hit the main current.
The man started to walk upstream, following the riverbank.
However, since there was a lot of overgrowth and bog areas along the
bank, he, sometimes, had to cut up to a path that ran along a small
ridge which rose above the shore area.
On one of these occasions, he came to a place where the path
forked off in another direction. Coming toward him were several
young hikers who met him at the fork.
They had been running and were out of breath, but as one of
them caught his breath, he said: “You better come with us mister.
We’ve just come from upstream a bit and conditions may be
worsening there. We have some knowledge of these woods, and we
think our best chance to escape the fire will be to cut across the forest
to a pond on the other side. But, we better hurry, there may be not
much of a window of opportunity for us to be able to safely make it
through.”
The man looked at the boys and considered their youth. Maybe,
they were boy scouts, or kids with a certain amount of wilderness
survival skills, but they just seemed to be too young for him to be
willing to entrust his life with what they might, or might not, know.
However, wishing to place the matter in God’s hands, the man
looked into his heart for some sign about what to do. Nothing seemed
to jump out at him one way or the other.
He tried to persuade the boys that they all should stick with the
river and keep heading up stream. Staying close to the water might
be the wisest thing to do under the circumstances.
The boys disagreed with him and started running up the path
which traversed the forest and led to a pond. He watched them
disappear around a corner.
Once again, he headed back down to the river and kept working
his way upstream. A short while later he came upon a man who was
sitting on an all-terrain vehicle, looking toward the other bank of the
river.
The man on the ATV was looking downstream as he lowered a
flask from which he had been drinking. He seemed to be inebriated.
He offered the new arrival a ride. The plan was to cross the river
at this point since the man on the ATV believed the river was both
fairly shallow and narrow there. In addition, the man on the ATV
felt the fire hadn’t jumped to the other side yet.
Looking at the flask in the ATV man’s hand and smelling alcohol
on the man’s breath as he outlined his plan for crossing the river, the
man without transportation was uncertain about how to proceed.
Once again, he concentrated on his heart, hoping to discern some
flicker of intuition or feeling that would inform him as to what
decision should be made.
Still, nothing out of the ordinary was detectible. Presumably, this
meant he should continue on as he had been doing.
He wished the man on the ATV good luck, and continued to
travel upstream.
When he looked back, the ATV had just reached the other bank
and was heading up a path that led away from the river.
For another five minutes he walked upstream. Sometimes along
the bank, and sometimes along the path running parallel to the river
but which was ten or fifteen feet inland.
At one point, the man came upon a firefighter was sitting down,
coughing, apparently overcome somewhat by the aftereffects of
smoke inhalation. His faced was painted with charcoal stains, mixed
with sweat and some blood.
The firefighter looked up, saw the man approaching, and, with
difficulty, tried to rise. The man helped the firefighter to his feet.
The firefighter coughed again, tried to catch his breath, and
when he did pointed toward an area of woods that ran diagonally
away from the river, in an easterly direction, saying: “The fire cut
me off from my crew. If we move in that direction, I’m pretty sure
we will reach safety. There are some helicopters in a clearing not too
far from here that will be able to lift us to safety. If you’ll help me, I
show you the way because it’s easy to miss the right cutoff.”
The firefighter seemed to know what he was doing. On the other
hand, he had been cut off from his crew and who knows what
mistakes in judgment had led to that separation.
Wishing to depend on God’s guidance, he closed his eyes and
focused within. He concentrated for only a few seconds when a light
shone his mind’s eye and there seemed to be a voice emanating from
the light. It said: “Look, you already have been given two ways out
of this mess and you’re not going to get any more help than you have
been given.”
The man was both startled and elated by his experience. He also
was mystified.
Thinking back, he recalled meeting: the woman in the canoe, the
two hikers, the drunken man on the ATV, and, now the firefighter.
If he had been given two ways to safety, what did the other events
mean?
In response to the man’s thoughts, the voice associated with the
internal light replied: “Two of the ways you encountered were
choreographed by an adversary of Divinity who was seeking your
destruction.”
But, which two, the man wondered? How was he supposed to
know? Moreover, hadn’t he tried, on each occasion, to discern the
path which God wished him to take? He was confused.
His sense of confusion was responded to with further words from
the light within: “When you finally learn to really depend on Divine
assistance, you won’t be plagued with these questions and doubts,
you’ll know, with certainty, what to do – and spiritual certainty is
something very different from merely being convinced that one is
right.
“In fact,” the light continued on, “there was once a servant of
Divinity who was so steeped in the station of Dependence that despite
not having eaten for days, nonetheless, when someone wanted to give
him 4 loaves of bread, he refused because God had promised him 5,
and, therefore, he knew the present offer was not the one which
Divinity wished him to take. So, until you develop this level of
confidence in depending on your Lord, why don’t you help this
firefighter, who is someone who knows what he’s doing, and let him
guide you to safety.”
Horizons Menu
|
