Dear Friends,

A couple of weeks ago I went white water rafting on the Arkansas River through Colorado’s Royal Gorge with Scout Troop 604. It was a wild and wet ride careening through the cat. four rapids of the Gorge. We were fortunate that the water was still as high as it was this July because of the record snow pack encountered by Colorado last winter. One can certainly get a more panoramic view of the gorge from the suspension bridge the spans the gorge more than 1000 feet above the water.
The view from the bottom in a raft yields its own brand of “charm” and reveals realities beyond the teamwork required by a raft of seven paddling like crazy people to navigate successfully the Gorge’s rapids. Our guide (Some of the boys called him a rafter, others a raft dude: I preferred the moniker “raftafarian.”) was in the stern steering us in the right direction, directing us when to paddle like our life depended on it, when to rest and simply ride the “hydraulic waves.”
Even in the urgency of the watery chaos of cat. four rapids, one is tempted to look up and catch a close up glimpse of the rock formations hewn by eons of wind and water. Trust me; it is not wise to lose one’s focus on the task at hand. The imperative is to focus on the water. To do otherwise is to risk slamming into a canyon wall or wrapping a around a boulder, neither being a worthwhile option.
I find a close parallel between our white water ride and the Christian life in faith. We are tempted by much in our world. To succumb to the temptation and look away from the faith causes us to lose focus on the life to which God has called us. Some temptations are well refined because they are the products of centuries of cultural and intellectual development. It is not my purpose to define or even outline the temptations to which I refer. The need for mentoring and ministering notwithstanding, I believe God grants us the capacity of making those judgments for ourselves.
Once we arrived at the Gorge, I guess it took 30 -40 minutes to raft through it. Most temptations do not pass that rapidly. They instead persist until they receive the attention they desire. That is what makes the Christian life in faith so difficult. It is precisely the reason why we cannot rely on our own inner strength to paddle through the course of faith, but rather trust in the strength with which God blesses us.