Strengthening Ties: A day at the YMCA’s Low and High Ropes Course

Below is a copy of the article I just wrote for Pilgrim's Progress, the bi-weekly publication of Pilgrim Lutheran Church.

I usually reserve this space for informing y’all about upcoming events. Don’t worry, as you can see I still did that, however, I thought I would take this time to update everyone on a past event. Last Sunday, 19 youth (Middle and High School) and 4 adults traveled to the YMCA for an event we called “Strengthening Ties”. I think I can speak for all who attended and say this was one of the best youth outings we have ever been on!

The Middle School group kicked off the morning with some team building games and activities. Not only did we have to escape cement sharks, but also cross a precipice to catch up with Indiana Jones (even though many of us were missing body parts), and escape our island before the lava came! After these exciting adventures our group tackled the high ropes, and when I say high I mean close to 40 ft. in the air! One of the adventures had us crossing a log while the other had us jump from a pole barely wide enough to put both feet on to a trapeze 5 ft away!

Our High School group came just in time to encourage our Middle School group to complete these tasks. After lunch together, the staff of the Y ran several games to get our two groups working together. We learned that though the Middle School and High School are two separate “teams”, both have the same goal. We need to work together and depend on the “boards” God has given us: Prayer and the Word.

After the Middle School group left, it was the High Schoolers turn for some team building. The High Schoolers also had to escape cement sharks and catch up with Indiana Jones; however, we had another challenging task ahead of us. We needed to form a chain and move our house high up in the trees of the rainforest from one side to the other. Through this game we learned that we need to have “trees” in our life that we can depend on for anything. The further we get from these “trees” the more likely we are to fall. Sometimes, we need to let people go who are pulling us down and away from these “trees” and our walk with Christ.

As I sit and write this I am still a little sore from climbing trees, being repelled down from a log suspended 40 ft in the air, swinging on a rope, and having several Middle Schoolers stand on my back. You know what; I wouldn’t trade these pains for the world! On Sunday, I saw barriers being broken, friendships being made, comfort zones being pushed, and relationships with others and God deepened. I saw students terrified to climb up two rungs on a ladder walk across a log suspended high in the air. I saw students strap their harness back on and tackle the high ropes due to the encouragement of their friends on the ground. I witnessed an amazing YMCA staff with incredible patience, push and affirm our students. I heard from the director of the course that we have a solid group of students.

I’m not going to lie. While I was standing on that pole 40 odd feet in the air I was terrified (and I know I wasn’t the only one). Many times I wanted to quit. I wanted to be lowered down and place my feet on solid ground. I couldn’t look down; rather I fixed my eyes on that trapeze, that though it was only a few feet away seemed like it was a mile. I counted to 2 several times and could not force out that oh so simple number 3 and jump. Throughout this time I heard our youth shouting out words of encouragement, cheering me on, and inspiring me to do that which I normally would not. I was not alone. Your youth, the youth of Pilgrim Lutheran Church, stood by one of our Middle Schoolers for at least 15 minutes encouraging her as she struggled just like me to force out that number 3 and jump. All activity halted, no one tackled the other high ropes element, and it was as if time was still as all eyes and voices were fixed on this student encouraging her to do something she was terrified to do.

I think what made the jump so hard is that people don’t normally jump off a pole 40 ft in the air to catch a trapeze just for the fun of it (unless they work at the circus). However this jump was different, I had on a harness attached to rope that can hold up to 1500 lbs. If you’ve seen me lately you know I weigh nowhere close to 1500 lbs. This paradox was running through my head as I asked myself: “Self, why don’t you just jump and get it over with, if you miss the bar you’ll be safe, the rope will hold you. Richard will not let you fall. But then again normal sane people just don’t jump off a post 40 ft. in the air.”

I’ve been thinking how much this scenario is like our walk with God. Often we are faced with a daunting task up ahead; just like jumping to catch a trapeze. These tasks often appear to be bigger than what they really are; like a trapeze that appears to be a mile away, but in reality it’s only 5 feet. Brothers and sisters, I’m here to tell you we’ve been equipped with everything we need to jump and catch that trapeze. We all have a support group on the group (our church family for starters) who will stay with us through it all, encouraging us to make that jump, stopping what they are doing to lend a hand, and applauding any effort we make to go one step further than we would have ever dreamed we could take. Most importantly we have the support of an awesome God! A God who just like that harness and rope system I was strapped into will not let us fall. We believe that God can support the whole world (or using my analogy 1500 lbs), what makes us think he can’t and won’t be there to catch us. As you stand on the “poles” of your life, faced with a “trapeze” that seems miles away, listen and feed off the encouragement you have “on the ground” and don’t forget you’re “attached to a “rope” that can support 1500 lbs.

In case you were wondering, I caught the trapeze!