Thoughts on Aron Ralston

The Discovery Channel broadcasted a show highlighting the experience of Aron Ralston, the young hiker who severed his own arm to get free from a fallen bolder after being trapped in a Utah canyon for five days. Tom Brokaw conducted an interview with Ralston and did a magnificent job. The story relates to our walk with the Lord in very poignant ways:

Off on his own. As he tells it, Ralston did not tell anyone of his whereabouts when he went hiking. He was drawn to the danger and excitement. We likewise stray into many dangerous places which God's Word instructs us to avoid for the sake of fun, danger and excitement. These are places the Bible calls sin. We go alone because we don't want anyone to know.

Trapped by a fallen boulder. Sin leads to bondage. What starts as seemingly harmless fun can take a nasty turn and trap us in a deep dark prison. Dysfunction is the common thread of our generation because of the myriad social and relational bondagescreated by the sex, drugs and rebellion so pervasive in our generation.

In a deep canyon that no one could locate. Sin leads to isolation. Eventually people bury or cover up their bondage so deep that there is no way to even know they are trapped. People are generally terrified of being ‘outed’ in their bondage because they either are ashamed of being there in the first place or they fear rejection or do not trust the healing community to have an answer for them.

Realization that actions were dumb. Ralston happened to be carrying a video camera and recorded several messages chronicling his experience. "I don't know what it is about me that's brought me to this...Go out looking for adventure and risk...so I can feel alive...and don't tell someone where I'm going, it's just dumb." Repentance, or turning, begins withmentally saying, "uncle" to God's truth. The Bible teaches, 'Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up'.

Realization that the bondage can kill you. Another video quote finds Ralston saying, "If I had a way to end it I probably would...its miserable, its cold. I can’t keep the wind off of me, it's cold...I'm doing what I can, but this sucks. It's really bad. One of the worst ways to go. Knowing it's going to happen." He was realizing that the bondage could kill him. The destruction of your life is going to be the unalterable result of this prison. You are a dead man walking. There is a coldness of spirit when one is trapped in some bondage of sin that brings a creeping impending death. This can create the catharsis that brings a sense of desperation, pushing one to consider possibilities formerly outside of one's consciousness. Jesus said that in order to find your life, you must lose it.

Reaching out for a love touch. In another video clip he says, "So again love to everyone. Bring love and peace and happiness and beautiful lives into the world in my honor. Thank you. Love you." After 9/11 I was astonished at the stories that reported people calling on their cell phones from the WTC and hijacked airplanes to say 'I love you' to their loved ones. It is amazing that the human spirit, faced with separation from this life, reaches out for a love touch. It is almost like a universal need to proclaim participation in the only real pure thing in life: love! The Bible says, "God is love."

Doing what it takes to survive. On the fifth day Ralston finally came to terms with what he had to do to survive; cut his arm off. He explained in excruciating detail the process of breaking the bones first and then with the small blade of his knife working through the rest of his arm. The brutality and sheer will displayed an unwillingness to stay trapped in the present situation and do whatever necessary to be set free. It is so reminiscent of Jesus’ words, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched-- (Mark 9:43) Ralston's experience is a harrowing demonstration of Jesus’ metaphorical instruction. When a person becomes this desperate in the canyon of their bondage, they are ready to be liberated. The Bible says that we find God when we seek Him with all our heart.

The power of a second chance. Once he was free of his arm, Ralston said he felt reborn. "[It] was the happiest moment in my life...there will never be a more powerful experience for me. I...just spent all this time trapped here. And then having the opportunity I...thought I was going to die...and to have gotten to that point I...where I engraved my own epitaph...gravestone, in a sense that it...was absolutely the greatest feeling to be...given the chance to get out of here. And looking down in canyon, I knew I had a...hell of a trip left. But at least...I was not going to die right here. And the power of that was astonishing." The power of a second chance, of being born again is incredibly powerful. The metaphor is simply compelling to me! His words describe exactly the feelings of a person liberated by the power of God. Who the Son sets free is free indeed! You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free!

Carrying forward the essentials. Ralston left most of his equipment when beginning his hike out of that place. Many people want to bring elements of their former lives on their trek in Christ but the child of God travels light. Paul wrote: Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:13-14). Our journey in Christ is arduous and treacherous and we, in our varying degrees of amputation, must not try to carry more than the essentials.

And now for the hard part. After severing his own arm, Aron Ralston had to then hike out of the canyon, repel down a cliff and cross a long distance before someone found him. Our journey in Christ requires courage, perseverance, steadfastness and great desire for salvation. Christianity is not for the faint of heart!

Combating Phantom Pains. Aron suffered phantom pain in his arm for a long time afterwards. Likewise, we must always remember that Jesus laid the ax to the root of sin on the cross so the only real bondage of sin that remains today is phantom pain. The devil still uses his influence to persuade us that we are still tightly and inseparably bound to that sin. It is his full time job to draw us back into bondage. He comes but to kill steal and destroy but Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly!