Interview with Bear Grylls

A mountaineer (reluctantly) talks about his faith and how it sustained him as he scaled Mt. Everest.

I love his honesty and modesty. Perhaps you will too.

First, plant your feet

So many choices!

Hiking in the Sierras is amazing.

In back of our cabin a slight granite ridge begins a public trail marked by occasional orange paint dots.

Beyond this ridge, little gray mini-cliffs rise helter-skelter above one another. A stream from somewhere above gurgles through the undergrowth as gravity urges it towards the lake. Aspen leaves quake in the breeze.

I soon learn, at least on this rocky ridge, that stopping to admire nature can be perilous. The narrow path drops too steeply on either side. To safely pause for scenery, first plant your feet firmly, then look around.

That’s not a bad motto for life either: Plant your feet firmly before looking around. How many times have we seen people looking left or right, or even back over their shoulder as they continue walking forward – right into a person, a post, or a tree?

Solid rock is a good place to stand while getting our bearings. It doesn’t shift, provides good footing, and offers a place from which to determine the next stage of our journey.

Let’s take the metaphor a little further. If that rock is Christ, the true idea of God, it supports every honest and unselfish desire as it breaks free of the undergrowth and tangles of selfish thinking. It provides a view of the future with so many possibilities, we scarcely know which path to follow.

Christ also speaks to us in ways we can understand, answering honest questions about life, helping us make wise and unselfish decisions. The path we take with Christ probably won't follow reassuring orange dots.

The confirmation that we are on a good path comes from our own on-going conversation with God, our own listening for His/Her direction, our own desire to walk hand-in-hand with divine Love's purpose.

“To ascertain our progress,
we must learn where our affections are placed
and whom we acknowledge and obey as God.

If divine Love is becoming nearer, dearer,
and more real to us,
matter is then submitting to Spirit.

The objects we pursue and the spirit we manifest
reveal our standpoint, and show what we are winning.”
Mary Baker Eddy

What does granite do when a galcier comes through?

When an irresistible force meets an immovable object

Margaret’s grand gesture took in the surrounding mountains as well as the lake our little boat was bouncing across. Above the purr of the motor, she explained, “These are all granite. This is all glacial formation.”

The deep lake scooped out eons ago by melting ice nestles snuggly among sunlit mountains and a brilliant blue sky. Somehow fir trees, redwoods, and manzanita shrubs have gained a roothold among these rocks.

At breakfast next morning, Jackie threw this out, “Have you ever thought about the granite that withstood the glaciers?” We hadn’t.

In spite of the power of the moving melting ice mass that excavated deep lakes and upheaved massive boulders, granite mountains remain.

I learned from Wikipedia that granite is igneous rock, meaning it was once molten. As it cooled and hardened it changed into the solid form we see today.

So how might this molten stuff-that-becomes-granite that-withstands-glaciers relate to you and me?

Even though we seem weak and vulnerable, our Maker has made us spiritually solid enough to withstand adversity. By turning to that one infinite Mind who created the universe, many people, including me, find strength, courage, and useful ideas.

Sometimes discovering and using these spiritual qualities means giving up my own view of how solutions should come about. But without exception, divine Mind’s ways are always better.

I think it’s because we tend to think in finite terms and limit our ability to do good – and God's purpose for us is unfettered.

God sees our unlimited potential, and shows it to us as we are willing to connect with that higher view. That purpose is much greater than to be just another rock thrown on the shores of time.

Each of us is made of solid spiritual substance that, something like granite, fully represents all that's enduring and good and true.