Psalm 91:5 "You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day."
Have you ever gone to bed with true terror in your heart? Not unease, not trepidation, but true terror? A night where you're both afraid to go to sleep, and, at the same time, wanting to get to sleep to get the night over with? I remember one such night.
I have an older brother who, like me, went to college, got a BS in Zoology, an MA in Biology and a PhD in Biology. We grew up on the beaches and in the woods of western Washington state. When we weren't turning rocks over while looking for specimens at the beach, we were tramping through the woods identifying plants, birds, insects. We were the nerds of the pre-computer era.
About two hours from our house stood majestic Mount Rainier. In July o
f my 15th year, our family had gone up to the visitor's center on the eastern flank of Mt. Rainier for a day's outing. After lunch, we went for a short hike on one of the trails. The panorama from any of the trails there is fantastic, but the one we took that day was the best. It was also a portion of the Wonderland Trail, a circuitous route of about 100 miles that encircles the mountain. My brother looked at me, and I at him. We immediately presented our folks with the proposal that they allow the two of us to hike the trail the following month. This being the age when fiteen- and sixteen-year-olds were still responsible, and, it being safe for such things back then, they agreed. So it was I spent my 15th birthday out on the mountain.
The Wonderland Trail had (and may still have) three-sided lean-to's every 10-12 miles where hikers could spend the night. These were typically up on ridges at the edges of meadows and had beautiful views in all directions. On our third night out, we stopped at the lean-to at Sunset Park. Unfortunately, the lean-to was occupied - several fishermen had been there several days and occupied the bench-like bunk at the back. Two girls about 18 who were doing the trail by horseback had the dirt floor at the opening. As a result, my brother and I got to sleep out in the open with the two horses.
Just before we went to bed (after the sun goes down there's not a whole lot else to do out there), the fire lookout from a station up on the ridge above Sunset Park stopped by to make sure everyone had taken care of their food properly. You see, this sight was notorious for its bears. So it was prudent to hang one's backpack from a tree by a rope. The lookout told of a Boy Scout group that had been there the preceding weekend. A ten-year-old had snuck a chocolotate bar into the end of his sleeping bag for a midnight snack, but at 11:30 was awakened by a bear dragging him and sleeping bag across the the clearing. Fortunately the bear was scared off, and everyone learned a good lesson. At least that is the story we were told, and we paid attention. The rest of our trip went well, and we decided to do the loop again the following year.
The weather our second year was not as great as the first. Those of us who've grown up in the Northwest don't jokingly refer to the area as the Great Northwet for nothing. Rain started early our second morning out. We had about a 12 1/2 mile hike to Sunset Park that day, going down into two valleys where it was raining quite heavily, and going up over two ridges where we were up in the clouds themselves. We didn't see another person that day. But we did start seeing bear tracks in the trail as we climbed the final ridge. The preceding year we had enjoyed the highbush blueberries and the lowbush huckleberries - so thick they could feed lots of bears. And this year there seemed to be even more berries! Hmmmm....
When we reached the lean-to, it was shrouded in mist. Bear tracks were everywhere. We flipped coins to see who would walk to the spring for water. My brother lost. I busily got a fire going. The drizzle continued til it started getting dark. No one else had come to the camp. By now we had worked ourselves into a bit of a dither. We found some candle stubs and pie tins left by earlier campers. We fashioned reflectors for the candles out of the tins, put our flashlights out beside our sleeping bags, and got our spoons and mess kits to bang on when the bears came.
We tried to go to sleep, but we continually heard animals moving through the bushes behind and around the sides of the lean-to. Every time we heard them, we'd light the candles and bang the mess kits. We managed to keep the bears at bay for several hours. Finally we dozed off, only to have my brother wake up screaming in terror. All he knew was that something had touched his face. Looking around with our flashlights, we found the culprit up by his head - a small wood mouse.
We went back to sleep, trembling at the continued sound of animals passing close by. As dawn started to break, we were finally able to see into the meadow in front of us. No bears, but lots of sounds ...of 32 deer.
As I have grown older, I've learned to appreciate the text I wrote above. The Lord truly does care for those that love Him. If we put our trust in Him, we can go to sleep in the lions' den as Daniel did. We don't need to light candles, shine flashlights or bang on mess kits to keep Satan and his imps away. The Lord has promised, and is well able to keep that promise.
May you have days full of cheer and joy. Let those who don't know the Lord do the worrying!
Dr. G
Have you ever gone to bed with true terror in your heart? Not unease, not trepidation, but true terror? A night where you're both afraid to go to sleep, and, at the same time, wanting to get to sleep to get the night over with? I remember one such night.
I have an older brother who, like me, went to college, got a BS in Zoology, an MA in Biology and a PhD in Biology. We grew up on the beaches and in the woods of western Washington state. When we weren't turning rocks over while looking for specimens at the beach, we were tramping through the woods identifying plants, birds, insects. We were the nerds of the pre-computer era.
About two hours from our house stood majestic Mount Rainier. In July o
f my 15th year, our family had gone up to the visitor's center on the eastern flank of Mt. Rainier for a day's outing. After lunch, we went for a short hike on one of the trails. The panorama from any of the trails there is fantastic, but the one we took that day was the best. It was also a portion of the Wonderland Trail, a circuitous route of about 100 miles that encircles the mountain. My brother looked at me, and I at him. We immediately presented our folks with the proposal that they allow the two of us to hike the trail the following month. This being the age when fiteen- and sixteen-year-olds were still responsible, and, it being safe for such things back then, they agreed. So it was I spent my 15th birthday out on the mountain.The Wonderland Trail had (and may still have) three-sided lean-to's every 10-12 miles where hikers could spend the night. These were typically up on ridges at the edges of meadows and had beautiful views in all directions. On our third night out, we stopped at the lean-to at Sunset Park. Unfortunately, the lean-to was occupied - several fishermen had been there several days and occupied the bench-like bunk at the back. Two girls about 18 who were doing the trail by horseback had the dirt floor at the opening. As a result, my brother and I got to sleep out in the open with the two horses.
Just before we went to bed (after the sun goes down there's not a whole lot else to do out there), the fire lookout from a station up on the ridge above Sunset Park stopped by to make sure everyone had taken care of their food properly. You see, this sight was notorious for its bears. So it was prudent to hang one's backpack from a tree by a rope. The lookout told of a Boy Scout group that had been there the preceding weekend. A ten-year-old had snuck a chocolotate bar into the end of his sleeping bag for a midnight snack, but at 11:30 was awakened by a bear dragging him and sleeping bag across the the clearing. Fortunately the bear was scared off, and everyone learned a good lesson. At least that is the story we were told, and we paid attention. The rest of our trip went well, and we decided to do the loop again the following year.
The weather our second year was not as great as the first. Those of us who've grown up in the Northwest don't jokingly refer to the area as the Great Northwet for nothing. Rain started early our second morning out. We had about a 12 1/2 mile hike to Sunset Park that day, going down into two valleys where it was raining quite heavily, and going up over two ridges where we were up in the clouds themselves. We didn't see another person that day. But we did start seeing bear tracks in the trail as we climbed the final ridge. The preceding year we had enjoyed the highbush blueberries and the lowbush huckleberries - so thick they could feed lots of bears. And this year there seemed to be even more berries! Hmmmm....
When we reached the lean-to, it was shrouded in mist. Bear tracks were everywhere. We flipped coins to see who would walk to the spring for water. My brother lost. I busily got a fire going. The drizzle continued til it started getting dark. No one else had come to the camp. By now we had worked ourselves into a bit of a dither. We found some candle stubs and pie tins left by earlier campers. We fashioned reflectors for the candles out of the tins, put our flashlights out beside our sleeping bags, and got our spoons and mess kits to bang on when the bears came.
We tried to go to sleep, but we continually heard animals moving through the bushes behind and around the sides of the lean-to. Every time we heard them, we'd light the candles and bang the mess kits. We managed to keep the bears at bay for several hours. Finally we dozed off, only to have my brother wake up screaming in terror. All he knew was that something had touched his face. Looking around with our flashlights, we found the culprit up by his head - a small wood mouse.
We went back to sleep, trembling at the continued sound of animals passing close by. As dawn started to break, we were finally able to see into the meadow in front of us. No bears, but lots of sounds ...of 32 deer.
As I have grown older, I've learned to appreciate the text I wrote above. The Lord truly does care for those that love Him. If we put our trust in Him, we can go to sleep in the lions' den as Daniel did. We don't need to light candles, shine flashlights or bang on mess kits to keep Satan and his imps away. The Lord has promised, and is well able to keep that promise.
May you have days full of cheer and joy. Let those who don't know the Lord do the worrying!
Dr. G
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