Thrice Rebuffed, 3.1

July 11, 2012

The Start
Today was my third attempt to tag the summit of Tabeguache Peak, our route was the western ridge of Tab, a mostly easy hike and climb...mostly is the operative word of that sentence. Caleb, Nic, and I hit the trail around 6:00am, it was a beautiful start of the day.

About two miles into the hike towards the trailhead, Caleb's Columbia Hiking Shoe (right foot) began to tear. We stopped to survey the damage and assess our potential progress. The shoe looked like the turkey from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, I have included a video for your pleasure. Watch the first 15 seconds:



Going Up
The 3 mile hike to the trailhead was very uneventful, not steep at all and a little boring. Once at the trailhead, Caleb and I decided to trade shoes. I thought I might be better able to monitor their condition and Caleb could enjoy the climb without worrying about footwear.

The trail became fairly steep as we quickly gained altitude through the trees - about 3/4 of the way through the treeline we reached the "Stairway to Heaven."

At the top of the Stairway to Heaven we stopped to drink in this view:

We are making decent time, the shoe is holding up and there is not a cloud in the sky...

Thrice Rebuffed, 2.0

Mt. Shavano on the right...

The second Tabeguache rebuffing occurred in the summer of 2009. My son Josh, my friend Nic, and I decided to do the Shavano to Tabeguache combo from the standard East Slopes route. We made it to the top of Mount Shavano but severely underestimated the trip length. We ran out of water and energy and did not make the 2 mile round trip to Tabeguache. As of July 2009, the score is:

     Tabeguache Peak    2
     David Littleton         0

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Don't let the smiles of Nic and I fool you...Josh's facial expression is a more accurate representation of our mood.

Funny story, the guy that took this pic arrived at the summit roughly the same time as us - and he immediately took out a hash pipe and fired up...I can't imagine. He did make it down safe though.

Thrice Rebuffed, 1.0

In August of 2008, I took a sabbatical trip to Colorado...my goal was to hike to Brown's Lake near Salida and set up a base camp. From base camp I would climb nearby 14ers Shavano, Tabeguache, and Antero.

Brown's Lake, elevation +/- 11,260 ft.

Establishing a base camp for five days requires a lot of supplies. The only way to get them up to Brown's Lake was to strap them on my back and carry. After day one of a very heavy pack and six miles of ascent, my left knee decides to lock up in the middle of the night. By morning it loosened up a little but we decided to scrap all summit attempts, Tab was first on the list, for the sake of my knee. Tabeguache rebuff number one...

In case you were wondering, I did make it back down after an amazing week of chillin' at Brown's Lake. This video is my testimony...and the most viewed on my YouTube account:

Thrice Rebuffed, Intro

Mount Everest has a couple of local names - the Nepalese call it Sagarmatha and the Tibetans call it Chomolungma.

• Chomolungma means "Goddess Mother of the World."
• The Sherpas, native people that do all of the hard work that allows western adventurers to reach the summit, are religiously a blend of Tibetan Buddhism and Native Animism.
• As such, they believe the mountain must be honored and further, the mountain chooses whether it will be climbed or not.

There is a good deal deal of ritual at the beginning of the climbing season to earn the favor of the mountain.

I am not converting to a blend of Tibetan Buddhism and Native Animism BUT I am beginning to think that Tabeguache Peak will not allow me to climb her (or him, or it). 

Three times I have attempted and three times I have been rebuffed. I am beginning to take it personally, I am on the verge of quitting all together, or I am on the verge of making it my life's quest...

Searching

Most of the people I know are searching for some truth...they want answers and they want to find something they can build a life on. This search is common throughout human history - who are we? where did we come from? what is our purpose? what is our destiny?

Our Monday night small group has been walking down this trail for several weeks now and last Monday we pondered this question:

Why are humans so quick to jump on to and cling to the latest truth claims?

We came at this question from a Christian perspective, heavily influenced by St. Paul's words from Romans 1:

"For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God."

We also discussed this question with some humility because each one of us has been guilty of being influenced by the "truth of the day." Here is what we concluded in answer to the question:

• We prefer our autonomy, we don't like having anything in authority over us.
• And if there is no authority over us, we are free to pursue our selfish desires with no rules.

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A few days later I listened to this story from a "This American Life" podcast. To summarize, a college professor with a family decided there must be more than this, what he could touch and see; if there weren't more then the beautiful universe would be diminished. So he abandons his wife and children and job at the university to try to establish contact with extra-terrestrials. He firmly believes that there is intelligent life "out there." After years of effort, frauds and near-misses he still believes that something is out there - something big, over-arching, transcendent - in his words, "what we might call God." He said that he believes ET could exist BUT believes that God could not because, again his words, "it sounds too fantastic."

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Might this bring a third excuse to the table? Do we reject the idea of a loving God because it is too fantastic, too good to be true?

Key Lime Pie and Hot Tamales

June 24, 2012


Before we get started, let me share a few of my observations with you:

1. Every church has one, you know, the lady that makes the best               . You can fill in the blank. Our church had Ms. Barbara and she made the best Key Lime Pie on the planet.
2. When I turned 35, and I assume it was or will be the same for you, my metabolism slowed down very dramatically. As such, I have to work much harder to maintain my svelte figure.
3. The biggest change has been my food intake, and particularly my intake of sweets. I have (or had) a voracious appetite for sweets.

Now for the story, I know you can't wait...

A few years ago (post-35 metabolism slow-down) I came home from a hard day's work with a voracious craving for something sweet. I spotted a large box of Hot Tamales on the kitchen table and in my rush to satisfy my craving, I devoured the whole box. Now in case you were wondering, I searched this site to find the nutritional information on a jumbo box of Hot Tamales. Not there but I assume it is somewhere between 3,000 and 20,000 calories per box. That is about 3 weeks of desert/candy intake for me, all in about 5 minutes.

You may already know this, but I will say it anyway...when one consumes a large box of Hot Tamales, it creates thirst. 

So I open the refrigerator door for some refreshing water and the first thing that I saw was:

Yep, Ms. Barbara's Best-On-The-Planet Key Lime Pie, uncut and waiting to be eaten. I had forgotten that she made it for me the day before and given it to me at church on Wednesday night...in my rush to satisfy the craving, I forgot the real prize.

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The Scriptures talk a lot about life, real life, abundant life and human nature. One of my favorite passages about this idea is from Jeremiah:

"My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me, the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water."

God had rescued them, delivered them, and taught them how to live abundantly. Time and time again they settled for less...

We all make choices that are not always the best...and it's not like we intentionally go about seeking the most mediocre options for our lives, we just tend to settle for what is easy and in front of us.

The challenge for us tomorrow is to pause and ponder - and seek what is best, not settling for instant gratification or what is simply normal. Seek the best (wonder, family, friends, food, grace) life has to offer you.

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To help you ponder your own situation, here is a chart of my Hot Tamales' and Key Lime Pies'

Hot Tamales - sitting on the couch early in the morning, vegging out, watching the news and feeling sorry for myself (not a morning person). The Key Lime Pie option - going for a morning walk in the neighborhood, meeting neighbors and getting valuable exercise.

Hot Tamales - spending too much time reading the news and worrying about the things on the horizon. The Key Lime Pie option - plant and tend a garden that reminds me of the thousands of years old process of light + water + germination = tasty food.

Hot Tamales - spending too much time vegging in front of the TV. The Key Lime Pie option - reading a good book.

Hot Tamales - any activity spent that is not with my family or friends. The Key Lime Pie option - spend time with my family and friends.

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P.S. - Hot Tamales are still my favorite candy (in moderation) and the Key Lime Pie in the story above was eaten!

Lazarus times 8,541

May 2012
Lazarus times 8,541
or, are we nationally destined for a place of torment?

• There have been 8,541 unaccompanied alien children picked up by US Border Patrol since October of 2011.
• I have written about my view of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus before, you can find that here.

God loves people, period. Regardless of socio-economic standing, race, nationality, etc. And scripture is filled with examples of God judging systems and nations. Isaiah, Amos, and Revelation are good places to begin a study on this.

Please read the parable below and change identities as follows - change this text to United States of America, change this text to Central American victims of injustice, systemic corruption, and violence.

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'"

• Why did the Rich Man end up in the place of torment?
• When are we going to stop policing the Middle/Far East and pay attention to our "gate"?
• How long can we ignore the things that God is interested in and expect God to bless us?