Bear comes to Seattle

Sometimes, oftentimes, I'm amazed at the creativity of God. His unending capacity to meet us and minister to us in unexpected ways. That was brought home to me in a truly unique way last week.

Before I tell the story, I have to give some background information. When I was about 6 or 7 we were on a trip back from the Midwest and stopped to have lunch in a Montana state park. It was way off the beaten path and totally deserted except for us....and, apparently, bears. The evidence of bears was everywhere - bear scat, scratch marks, hair; it was a little unnerving to say the least! In this setting my brother Neal decided to tell me a "true story" about two little girls who surprised a mother grizzly when they ran out of a bathroom in Yellowstone. I remember his telling of the story vividly - right down to the gory detail of the rescue party finding the ear of one of the little girls as they chased after the bear. Remember, I was only 7 when I heard this story and to this day I can picture that park and the park I envisioned as my brother wove his captivating tale. I have been deathly afraid of bears ever since. I spent a summer hiking in the North Cascades and every night I'd wake up in terror, listening to the sounds of nature and repeat over and over, "it's not a bear, it's just little critters or deer licking the salt off my pack. It's not a bear, it's not a bear." My biggest fear, while living in Alaska, was that I'd encounter a bear and my fear would overcome my motherly instincts and I run off and leave my kids. So it really has been a deep seated fear (and let's not forget, bears are scary!)

So back to my story. It was Tuesday morning and I came across an email from the high school alerting us to sighting of a bear in Hamlin woods - the very place I walk my dog every day. A bear. In my woods. Then I got a text from Bekah who'd heard the announcement at school and wanted to warn me to be careful. I sat with this information for a few moments and then felt compelled to go for our usual walk. Not just desirous but compelled. I had papers to drop off at the high school and the easiest way to get there is through the woods - so I decided to face my fears and go through the woods. I wasn't really scared which, for me, is a minor miracle right there. I just had this sense that I was doing what I was supposed to do - no matter the consequences. I was not going to live in fear.

I got to the woods and they were fairly deserted - a couple of other dog owners were there and I gave them a heads up before I turned into the woods. I stuck to main trails and felt pretty safe. After dropping off the papers, I headed back into the woods and this time I threw all caution to the wind. I took some "off the beaten path" trails where I could be fairly certain to be alone and enjoy the incredible beauty of this wonderful park. I was so unafraid that it amazed me. I was thoroughly enjoying my walk when I came up a steep hill, turned the corner and noticed a TV cameraman had his camera trained on us. I quickly leashed up Bentley (I always do this when around others) and then continued walking down the path. As soon as I could see I was no longer being filmed, I begged him to not show me with my dog offleash (which is a big ticket if you get caught.) He told me that he'd been filming us when we were skirting the bottom of the hill but promised not to show that part if I'd let them interview me. He asked if I knew about the bear and why I was walking even with that knowledge. When I told him I didn't want to live in fear (and boy was that ever true in this case) he wanted to get that on tape.

So I was interviewed by KIRO and most of it made it on the noon news. I thought he said KING so I was watching the wrong station when it came on. The ones who did see it were my parents in Wenatchee - were they ever surprised! A little bit was shown at 5 and little clips of me were shown even the next morning. Weird.

Here were my take aways from this experience:
1. God is in every experience and whatever happens is in His Hands - I do not need to fear.

2. It feels good to face your fears and you never know what adventure may come out of it.

3. I do not like how I look on TV - those extra pounds the camera adds on are not flattering!

4. I like the limelight too much - somehow my ego is still wrapped up in what others think of me. I continue to trust God to change me in this area and believe that He is taking me to a place of belovedness in Him alone (but I'm not there yet.)

5. Maybe I'll write a children's book about "bear in the city." Now if I could just find a good illustrator....

Face your fears. It feels really wonderful.

A Weekend with Family

Our Dad just turned 90 and most of the family made it to Wenatchee this past weekend to celebrate him. It was a wonderful gathering spent getting caught up, reminiscing and eating wonderful meals made by my sister Gail and brother John.


At one point in the sharing, talk turned to my trip to Africa and what I experienced there. After reassuring my family that I really wasn't in much danger, most of the time, I found myself trying to talk about the wierdness of being with people who have nothing but a little food, the barest of shelter and the clothes on their backs - and then returning to the wealth that we experience here in America. I try to talk in ways that engage rather than repell; invite rather than reject; inspire rather than condemn but I'm not sure I've found the stories or the language to do so. Inevitably, at some point, I start to notice some of the eyes glaze over and minds move on to another topic. And I get it - it is so hard to stay engaged with the problems of inequity that seem so far away from us. It is much easier to think/dream about the latest technology or toy or focus on the complexity of our lives than to imagine what it would look like to embrace a global lifestyle. I just can't go back to ignoring the problems that we're facing as a global community - I don't want to. At the same time, I struggle with the message we're bombarded with every day: all I need is just a little bit more to make me happy. Think about it - isn't that the lie that leads us on like the proverbial "carrot on the stick?" Can you not think of at least half a dozen things that you'd like to have and that you think would better your life? I can and then I think back to the children running alongside our van, asking us to bring them clothes the next time we return.....


So I think the answer to the pervasive message that "all I need is a little bit more" - is to remember and be grateful for all that I do have. Gratitude fills up my heart and helps me to realize that a little bit more would just cause a raise in my lifestyle and a new level of "just a little bit more" would take the place of the other list of desires. I'm challenging myself to see if I can go the other way - "just a little bit less." If I make choices with my food, my energy usage, my clothing choices, my cleaning products that use "just a little bit less" I can stand against the deception in our culture. If enough of us do this, we can change the trajectory our planet is on. If we look into what we buy, where it comes from, who it impacts and make choices that are good for the whole of humanity (and not just because it's convenient, or cheaper, or touted as the latest "must have") well, I think we all would be better off. Not only would our choices benefit the poorest in the world but we would be actively disengaging from the carrot. And that would be better for us all.

Hot, Flat and Crowded

One of my favorite quotes is by Winston Churchill: “I’m an optimist, it doesn’t make much sense to be anything else.” Imagine all that he went through in his lifetime and that’s what he had to say (I don’t actually know when he said it, so perhaps it was after the war. I tend to think he said it in the midst of war!)

With that in mind, I want to shamelessly plug the latest book by Thomas Friedman:"Hot, Flat and Crowded." I just finished reading it and think everyone in America should be required to read it. In it, he lays out just how desperately our world needs a green revolution but also a really practical, optimistic vision of how it could come about (and help our country to be the best kind of global leader - for the good of all!) If you’re like me and you’ve bounced back and forth between “this is too much to take on” and “how bad can it be?” well….Friedman helps you to get out of that ping pong game with an honest look at just what we need to do to save our planet. And it does need saving. And it’s going to take all of us. And we have to do it now.

Before you write this off as the lunatic ranting of the girl voted “class crusader” in high school, please read the following speech written by a 12 year old Canadian girl to a rapt audience at the 1992 earth summit:

Hello, I’m Severn Suzuki, speaking for ECO – the Environment Children’s Organization. We are a group of twelve- and thirteen-year-olds trying to make a difference: Vanessa Suttie, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg and me. We raised all the money to come here five thousand miles to tell you adults you must change your ways. Coming up here today, I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come. I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard. I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across the planet because they have nowhere left to go. I am afraid to go out in the sun now because of the holes in the ozone. I am afraid to breathe the air because I don’t know what chemicals are in it. I used to go fishing in Vancouver, my home, with my dad until just a few years ago we found the fish full of cancers. And now we hear of animals and plants going extinct every day – vanishing forever. In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rain forests full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see. Did you have to worry about these things when you were my age? All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions. I’m only a child and I don’t have all the solutions, but I want you to realize, neither do you….You don’t know how to bring the salmon back up a dead stream. You don’t know how to bring back an animal now extinct. And you can’t bring back the forests that once grew where there is now desert. If you don’t know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!...
At school, even in kindergarten, you teach us how to behave in the world. You teach us: not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share – not be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do? Do not forget why you’re attending these conferences, who you’re doing this for – we are your own children. You are deciding what kind of world we are growing up in. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying “everything’s going to be all right,” “it’s not the end of the world,” and “we’re doing the best we can.” But I don’t think you can say that to us anymore. Are we even on your list of priorities?
My dad always says, “You are what you do, not what you say.” Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grown-ups say you love us, but I challenge you. Please make your actions reflect your words. Thank you. " ("Hot, Flat and Crowded" pg 724)

Please, let’s do it for our kids. We can no longer afford to put it off.