Count It All Joy

Listen: “Rain” by Grandson (with Jessie Reyes)

Every summer for a couple of decades, I would go on a backpacking trip to the Rocky Mountains of North America with one of my closest friends, Randy Kroening. Randy and I met as potluck roommates our freshman year at Baylor University. We would hike heavy backpacks into the high mountains, far away from people, for a week of fishing, climbing, and hiking. We started doing these trips in 1980 and continued them most summers until about 2010 when we started opting for easier accommodations and day hikes. We have backpacked all over the Colorado Rockies, The Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, and The Bitterroot Mountains of Montana.

 One summer we decided to backpack in the Wind River Range in Wyoming. When we parked our vehicle at the trailhead to begin our journey into the high mountains, we noticed a warning. Grizzly bears had started migrating into the Wind River Range from the North. Ranchers were starting to have encounters with grizzly bears in the mountains, and occasionally a grizzly bear would feast on some of their cattle.

 A word about bears for non-mountaineers: Most of the mountain backcountry we have hiked have bears—black bears. Black bears are rarely dangerous in the high mountains. They are very elusive. They avoid people. Unless you cornered a momma bear with her cubs, a black bear is going to run away from you. Grizzly bears are a different breed. They can be aggressive and dangerous. Many grizzly bear encounters have resulted in death for the humans. I have read a few books on grizzly bear encounters (long before The Revenant movie came out), and I determined I didn’t want to encounter a grizzly.

 The grizzly bear warning at the trailhead gave us a few recommendations in case we did encounter a grizzly: (1) don’t run; (2) don’t stare the grizzly in the eyes; (3) if the bear charges at you, don’t run because many times they do a mock charge and run past you; and (4) if the grizzly does attack you, lie on the ground in the fetal position and cover your head and vital organs as best you can. Many times they will just knock you around on the ground and then leave you alone.

 As I was reading these instructions, I was thinking about how utterly counterintuitive the instructions were. First of all, if I see a grizzly bear, my first instinct is to run! All I have to do is run faster than Randy! (Just a joke Randy, kind of.) Secondly, there is no way in hell I am going to get into a starring match with a grizzly. Thirdly, if a grizzly charges me and if I don’t sh*t my pants, I’m running. I’ll take my chances. Fourthly, if I do get attacked then I probably will get in the fetal position and cry for my momma. This one makes sense to me!

 Sometimes what’s good and wise for us is counterintuitive. Our fight-flight-freeze response is not always the best response in certain life situations. I think this is true for certain types of pain, particularly emotional pain. I have a love-hate relationship with some words of advice as it relates to  emotional pain. Let me give you some examples.

 I was recently reading a book (thanks to a recommendation by Dr. Kathleen Keenan) entitled The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Cameron’s book is a guide for unblocking our creative self and growing in creativity and spirituality. Cameron says: “To effect a creative recovery, we must undergo a time of mourning. Our tears prepare the ground for our future growth. Without this creative moistening, we may remain barren. We must allow the bolt of pain to strike us. Remember, this is useful pain; lightning illuminates” (p. 7).

 Another book I was reading a couple of years ago by Patrick Carnes is called A Gentle Path through the Twelve Steps: A Classic Guide for All People in the Process of Recovery. In one section entitled “Accept Pain as a Teacher,” Carnes reflects on how we all experience suffering and try to make sense of it, figure out what caused it, and even determine how we can fight against it. Carnes concludes that the most important approach is seeing suffering as a teacher: “Suffering simply is. It’s not fair, right, or wrong. It simply is. However, how I respond is critical. How I take action, how I grow, and how I become a more spiritual person is the most important thing.” Carnes cites Viktor Frankl’s insights on Nazi concentration camp survivors—they all shared the ability to transform suffering into meaning.

 There is a classic passage in the Bible from which I have taught for decades. It gives some advice for how to handle trials and suffering that I find very counterintuitive. In fact, every time I have taught on this passage, I always start with the advice for a grizzly bear encounter because it heightens the counterintuitive drama of this passage. It’s found in the New Testament book of James. “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing” (James 1:2-4; NLT). “Perfect and complete” in this passage is not perfection as Americans conceive of it. It’s more about the concept of maturity, authenticity, and wholeness—progress not perfection.

 Is there anything more counterintuitive than responding to suffering, pain, and difficulty with joy? I don’t know about you but my impulse is to run or fight. Isn’t “joy” a little over-the-top for a response to disappointment, failure, or even tragedy. How about this response: “Life sucks. I must suck. People suck. But I guess I better learn something lest I turn into a grumpy, bitter, old fart.” That’s seems more in touch with reality—not so dramatically counterintuitive.

 But, maybe, if we “break on through to the other side” in the words of Jim Morrison, maybe, there is joy in the growth. Joy in the moment. Joy in being fully present and grateful in the moment. Breathing in the breath of life. The magnificent mystery of life on this planet. And if we grow, share the love, and connect with other fellow travelers, then maybe we find ourselves in the company of grateful, creative, spirit-drenched, lovers of life and the universe. I’m all in for that.

 By the way, on that backpacking trip into the Wind River Range, Randy and I did have an encounter with a grizzly bear, and I did punch the bear in the nose. (No lie. Ask Randy.) But that’s a story for another blog.

Shalom

©realfredherron, 2022