Faces on Faith: What’s your paddle?
My brother Bob’s youngest son, Mike, isn’t afraid of taking risks. He and his wife Lindsey live in a house largely built with their own hands in the middle of the woods in Northern Michigan. They are off-the-grid, generating their own power and heating with wood. They even have an outhouse. Lindsey works at a hospital forty-five minutes from home as an aide, and Mike cobs together various money-makers, ranging from cutting timber to gathering and selling scrap metal.
You’d think that would be enough primitive living for anybody, but not for Mike and Lindsey, for their favorite pastimes include tent camping and kayaking. They’ve been known to pitch a tent even in the middle of winter. And their kayaking adventures not only take them along the shores of Lake Michigan, but also along the Upper Peninsula in the waters of Lake Superior.
Lindsey was in her early twenties when she met Mike. She’d never been kayaking, as far as I know, and it was Mike who taught her the basics. Different stokes, how to navigate, how to right her craft if she went upside down.
“Above all else,” he told her, “never let go of your paddle. No matter what happens, never let go!”
Lindsey was a good student, and soon they were navigating more and more challenging waters. One weekend they decided to travel to Munising, in the Upper Penninsula, and kayak around Grand Island, a twelve-mile island in Lake Superior. When they started out in the bay, the waters were fairly quiet and the going was smooth. But then they decided to paddle out to the part of the island that faced directly into the open waters. Suddenly a storm came up — as they are wont to do on Superior — and Mike and Lindsey found themselves in the midst of huge waves and frightening winds.
They got separated — and Mike’s kayak crashed against the rocks. But Lindsey kept drifting further and further away across the lake. It was frightening for Lindsey as she wrestled with her craft. It was frightening for Mike as he watched helplessly from his wrecked boat. Fortunately, Lindsey had a radio and was able to contact the National Lakeshore rangers.
Soon, not one, but two boats found her. But the waves were very rough, and as they circled her, though they slowed down as best they could, their wake made things even rougher. They got close enough to pull her aboard, but they needed her help. They needed to be able to grab her by the hands and arms to pull her in.
“Let go of the paddle, ma’am. Let go so we can pull you in!”
But Lindsey just clung to her paddle. Mike had said never let it go. In great fear, she clung to it for dear life. Yet it was the very thing preventing her from being rescued.
So what is it that you are clinging to for security? What is it that you are unwilling to give up? Your image? A harmful relationship? Materialistic goals? An addiction? What do you need to lose to gain life?
Lindsey finally took the risk and let go of the paddle and was pulled aboard. She lived to tell the tale to me and others. So what risk do you need to take? What’s your paddle?
-The Rev. Dr. John H. Danner, Senior Pastor, Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ