Walk As Lions

I have intentionally been an absent voice during this entire process. I have not shared anything because I do not want to hurt you. It doesn’t take a psychology degree or ESP to see the pain in your eyes when I tell you about Jonathan’s plight. It tears me apart to see my friends, family, clients, hell even complete strangers hurt. This is not your burden to bear and I feel that the less I say the less likely I am to hurt you, which in turn means I don’t hurt myself.

One fall I took a fishing trip to Alaska. I was fishing in a seaside port town called Whittier. My friend and I were in a rocky cove with completely serene waters. So serene, one could peer down from the 30 foot cliff and see schools of salmon making their 10 to 15 minute laps in the pristine cove. When the salmon would enter the cove fellow fishermen would start calling out as to alert the neighboring fishermen that the Salmon were headed their way.

Until this moment, I had never seen or been a part of a team fishing experience. This was exhilarating. One after the other like dominoes collapsing on each other the fisherman would call “They are coming.” My friend and I followed suit and screamed at the top of our lungs and laughed when the school swam by. Our exhilaration caused us to miss the fish as we had inaccurate casts from being atop our 30 foot cliff. To get a more accurate cast on the salmon’s next lap, I climbed down the rocks to the waterline and precariously hung out at the 20 foot deep waters edge. I figured with the water being as calm as a lake, what is the worst that can happen? I fall in? Who goes fishing in Alaska and doesn’t expect to get a little wet? I continued to fish from my perch.

As time past the alerts from fellow fishermen, even my friend, became fewer and more spread out as everyone was packing up and heading home. I couldn’t blame them. The fishing was pretty slow but I didn’t fly to Alaska to get skunked. An hour or so later, I heard a very distressed man scream inaudibly at me. For the life of me I could not make out what he was saying. Soon after, another man came over and began screaming and motioning toward the sea. This was followed by my friend joining the couple and motioning for me to come up. I decided to climb back up the cliff and see what the commotion was all about. Maybe they want me to see a whale.

The serenity of the sea had recently been replaced by a “noise.” By the time I carefully scaled up the wet cliff that “noise” had turned into a roar. The previously serene cove had turned into a swirling, tumultuous ocean that had engulfed my precarious perch. I, being from Colorado and having limited ocean fishing experience, was completely ignorant as to how fast, violent, and unannounced the high tide coming in could be. Ten minutes later my perch was under 10 feet of debris filled water that was viciously crashing into the cliffs I had just scaled.

I have dreamt about that cove many times in my life. Sometimes in my dream I do not make it back to the top of the cliff. Instead, I fall into God’s washing machine at high tide. My life is currently at the waters edge and the tide has come in. This tide is a combination of raw panic, angst, anger, and fear of what is to come physically, financially, and emotionally. I cannot internalize this anymore I need to share. I needed my fellow fishermen’s help on that nearly fateful day in Alaska and today God called down to me playing at the waters edge to again warn me of my ignorance. God advised me that internalizing Jonathan’s plight will only make certain that I never escape the tumultuous sea. I cannot overcome this on my own. I know that I am going to have to share my experiences. More over, I know that I am going to have to lean hard into God. Harder than I ever have. I know that I have slipped into the sea. I will soon be drowning in my own emotions. But alas there is hope:

When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8 23-27)