Canoe Race with a bad taste. The tweenage years were those of adventure for me. Oh there was plenty of angst and pre-teen trauma, but one of my favorite quests was competing in the Powell River Canoe race with my Boy Scout Troop. We practiced for a few months in lakes, ponds, even the scout master’s pool tied to the diving board. We learned how to paddle a canoe and not turn upside down. And we even learned what to do if we turned upside down. I don’t know who thought it would be a good idea to let a bunch of middle school boys race a few miles down the river after only practicing in calm water a few times, but I’m glad they did. With the exception of a few bumps, scrapes, and sore muscles it was a pretty smooth operation. Scout troops from all over the area had an assigned camping spot and each canoe had a slated start time. They put us in order fastest to slowest and started each canoe a couple of minutes apart. We were in the youngest/slowest group near the end. My canoe mate said he wanted to be the spotter in the front and I was in the back to steer. We navigated the river remembering to avoid the V’s pointing upstream in the current, made by water going around a rock. And we pointed our canoes toward V’s in the current pointing down stream made by two rocks on either side. There were only a couple of places where the river moves somewhat fast and most of the canoers avoided ending up on the rocks or in the water. In my 12 year old mind, it may have looked like the falls from the movie, “A River Runs Through It,” not to be confused with another Brad Pitt classic, “Legends of the Fall,” that, contrary to the name, had no falls at all. The Powell River was nowhere near that kind of rapids and yet it was an adventure I still remember with fond memories. I don’t think our troop won anything, but made the top 10 (out of 10). Oh and there was that unfortunate incident after the race where my scout troop raided the canoe filled with soft drinks and ice and absconded back to our campsite with all the cokes meant for the participants in the race. Though we were the troop that met at a fancy church in a relatively fancy part of town we were all easily swayed by one of our suburban hoodlums from an upscale neighborhood. We quickly became known as “that troop” (and may not have been invited back to the next year’s race). I don’t know why we all shamelessly followed suit when this young man started grabbing more drinks than he could possibly drink and tossing them in his backpack and tent. He began downing them one after another. Then in his out of control sugar rush, he was shaking and wasting the diet drinks spraying them in the faces of the other scouts, even the adults who came to politely ask for us to put them back so that all could share them. The Bible says, “‘Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!’, unfortunately it is a quote from the woman Solomon called “Folly,” who says these words to lure in “fools.” I don’t know what lured us into this kind of folly that would leave a bad taste in people’s mouths during such a life giving and memorable outdoor adventure. Many leaders had invested so much of their time, energy and effort to give us a wonderful experience and life-long memories. Maybe we were jealous of those who had practiced hard and won the races and in our prepubescent, yet-to-be-fully formed minds, this was our “rational” answer to make us not feel so embarrassed by our loss. Our total lack of gratitude, couth, and grace actually embarrassed us more.
Back in Jesus day, a marvelous life giving thing had happened. Jesus healed a man who was born blind. It was glorious, but quickly some men, jealous of Jesus, tried to take away the victory when they spoke against Him for healing on the Sabbath. They even said bad things about the man who was healed because he embarrassed them by continuing to give glory to Jesus for healing him. Jesus reminds us that we can be life givers or we can be takers. He says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”(John 10:10 NIV) When we bring life to others, we are acting like we belong to Jesus, but when we are taking from others, we are acting like the Evil One. We needta remember, if we belong to Him, we act like Him and bring life to people even when we are embarrassed or feeling “less than.”
Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!
