Christian Living

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The news outlets confirmed the sad news that a bush walker missing in the Blue Mountains for several days, has been found dead. The man had attempted a three day walk in a very remote part of the Blue Mountains. At the end of the first day he did not find the camping place and from that point on he was lost in a remote wilderness area in Kanangra-Boyd National Park. Other walkers have commented in the press that this campsite is notoriously hard to find and the track is not at all clear. Unfortunately the 38 year old man was not an experienced bush walker. For most this story is sad but somewhat remote, but for a couple of reasons this tragedy has really touched my heart this week.

Firstly, the man was from the same suburb where I live and where our church meets, and being a local brings it a little closer to home. Secondly, what makes it more personal for me is that about 7 or 8 years ago, when I would have been almost the identical age to this man, three friends and I attempted the very same wilderness walk, leaving Kanangra Walls and finishing at Katoomba. It was a stunning wilderness experience and apart from awesome scenery one of my most vivid memories of that walk is that we did not see another person for three days. When you climb over mountains called Cloudmaker and Yellow Dog, you know you have experienced something both tough and special. Like this man I am not an experienced bush walker, but our group of four was led by a mate who was experienced and supposedly had done the track before and knew the way. Like the man who died, we did not have a great map and did not have a compass. What is really scary for me this week is that we too could not find the campsite that first night. Being lost meant not finding the place to camp, where we were relying on refilling our dwindling water supply. I remember very vividly those couple of hours at the end of the first day, when we realized that we were lost. As night fell we stopped looking and camped literally on the side of a hill and hoped and prayed that the next morning we would somehow find the missing campsite. I guess the biggest difference between our group and this man is that we did stumble upon the campsite after a couple of hours the next day and our walk was back on track. But you can imagine that following the story this week in the press has reminded me of how fortunate we were.

Facing our mortality is a sobering experience. It should make us value every day and every breath. It should also help us to reflect on our purpose for life and our eternal hope. For me it reminds me that life cannot be held on to and that by living each day we must and do give it up. We are challenged to think about what we give our lives for and what its impact will really be.

Jesus was clear that life was not something we can control or determine. His teaching encourages us to give our lives back to God, who alone is the giver of life in the first place. To give our life to save it seems so much more sensible than to lose our life by trying to hang on to it.

"Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." Luke 17: 33 (NIV)

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