Recently I went to Utah with my church. The trip went really well. We met people who love Jesus deeply, we had great conversations with people who did not, and we grew in our love and faith in Christ. This post, however, does not contain those stories; it contains the story of when I nearly got attacked by a snake.
Hiking
It starts as all great horror stories do: A group of unsuspecting friends decide to go on an adventure away from the modern world.
The group and I discover a hiking trail. The trail goes through the mountains of Utah and ends at a beautiful waterfall cascading down the walls of a canyon. The hike will be tiring, but we are confident it is worth the work.
For a while, we travel up the edge of the mountains. The area is not the most attractive, but the view of the city is. We occasionally stop for photo shoots when we find a great backdrop...or when my friend Sean finds a natural chair.
Then, we hike deeper into the mountains. The scenery changes from desert-like terrain to forest-like terrain. Trees are all around us.
There are two constants on our hike. The first constant is the stream bubbling beside us. We assume it is flowing from the waterfall. My pastor Caleb declares the water clean (because all flowing water is clean!) and he, Sean, my other friend Jordan, and I take a drink. It's delicious! My wife Michelle and Sean's wife, Erica, refrain from drinking. "What if somebody upstream just relieved himself in the stream?", they asked.
...Good point. Too late now!
The second constant is the upward slope of the climb. Who knew climbing a mountain was going to be so tough! Where we previously were stopping for photo shoots, we now are constantly stopping for breaks. Gravity is now our biggest enemy.After an hour of sweat, tears, and a few drinks of beautiful, clean, and possibly urinated in stream water, we arrive at the top. And it is worth it. Take that gravity!
The Waterfall
The waterfall is unlike any waterfall I have seen before. At first that sounds impressive, but I've only seen about five other waterfalls. Unlike the picturesque waterfalls one might see in photographs, this water was simply rolling down the rocks.
It was beautiful in its own way. We all enjoy staring at it for a while. Then, the guys all lay against the rocks, getting drenched in the frigid water. We relax for a while, enjoying the view and recovering from the long hike. Finally, we decide to head back to the bottom.
The Snake
Going down is much less tiring than going up. Gravity seems to have a change of heart and becomes our ally rather than enemy. About halfway through the forest area, Sean and I see boulders jutting off the mountain in the distance. I determine that standing on those boulders would grant a fantastic view, and I plan to climb on top of them. Sean offers to join.
We tell the others to go on, but Jordan decides to stay with me and Sean. The boulders, surrounded by many smaller rocks and bushes, are uphill from our starting point. I conclude that if I scramble quickly up the mountain, the movement of the rocks underfoot will affect me less compared to taking it slow.
I take off, scrambling up the mountainside hand and foot. I use some brush to pull myself higher, when suddenly I hear Sean yell! I quickly reach a stable spot and turn to see what happened.
Sean, to my horror, declares he heard a hissing sound just before seing an orange and black snake come after me! The bushes and rocks are suddenly much less friendly. In my mind, every shadow becomes a den of snakes! Sean saw the snake go under a rock, and so he carefully begins looking for it. He does not find the orange and black snake. Instead, he finds something worse...
He finds a different snake. He claims this snake is as big as his arm!
I am now trapped up this steep hill covered in bushes. The route I just took has at least two
snakes hidden. Other paths downward do not look promising. There is no safe way to head back.
I look up at the boulders to which I was heading, examine all the rocks and shrubs
that make great snake hiding holds, and know I cannot
continue on. At this moment, I must face a sad fact:
I am going to die.
But, gathering inspiration from that poem Michael Caine quotes a few too many times in Interstellar, I decide not to go gentle into that good night! I begin a mad sprint down the hill. Gravity, revealing its sinister plan, attempts to force me off balance as I desperately keep my body upright. Locked tight in this battle of balance, snakes all around, knowing a fall could result in a broken body or a venom-filled bloodstream, I yell, "Father God please protect me!"
And at last, I arrive safely back on the trail. The downhill sprint seemed to last a few minutes despite being only a matter of seconds. I return to meet Sean and Jordan, and they show me the snake.
We catch up to Michelle, Erica, and Caleb, and we tell them the story. It takes them a bit of convincing, but they all finally believe when we show them the picture.
Safe and sound, once again enjoying the beauty of the hike in the mountains, we finish the trip and return to our home.
Conclusion
Thank you God for keeping me alive! Maybe I was in less danger than I thought I was,
but it definitley seemed like I could have died that day.
But you know, I also could have died in high school when, stepping off the curb without
looking, I was one step away from a head-on collision with a semi truck. In fact, I could die today,
or I could die tomorrow. There are snakes and mountains and car accidents and
diseases and mysterious sudden endings, and we never see any of them coming.
Being 25, I am beginning to grasp the shortness of life. I am learning that I am
not invincible, and even if I have 50 years ahead of me, the years will disappear so rapidly.
James asks us, "What is your life?" And then answers: Our life is but a vapor.
We do not know what tomorrow will bring! (James 4:14).
But facing the shortness of life, I have learned two things: first, I do not need to fear death because death is only the beginning. I am a stranger to this world (1 Peter 2:11), my citizenship is in Heaven (Phil 3:20), and death will only bring me home. But if you do not follow Jesus as Lord, death is the end of all joy and happiness. Sin separates you from Him because God, being just, sentences us to an eternal punishment. But Christ became sin for us, took God's wrath upon Himself on the cross, and allows us to live in right standing before God. Please seek out the truth of this.
Second, we have work to do in life. Living comfortably and easy in a coma of entertainment will completely waste our life here. Paul says that, if Jesus wasn't resurrected, we would be free to "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" (1 Cor. 15:32). But because Jesus was resurrected, we must live a life using our time and resources to point people to Him. That is the only work that really lives on into eternity. It is the only work that leads to a life not wasted.
I hope you enjoyed the story! Have you
had any near-death experiences? I would love to hear
your story, or any other feedback, in the comments below or on Facebook.