I was watching this movie called Free Solo about this guy named Alex Honnold.  He is the first and only person to Free Solo El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.  It was a really good movie.  I always find stories about overcoming the odds inspiring, even if they are slightly crazy things like climbing El Capitan without any safety ropes or protection of any kind.  Crazy.  Cool.  Crazy.  Amazing.

We were just there yesterday, Yosemite.  It is one of my favorite places in the world.  Alex called El Capitan the greatest piece of granite in the world.  That’s saying a lot coming from a man who has literally climbed massive granite cliffs all over the world.  Even cooler that it is only about 2 and a half hours from us!

We love to go to Yosemite every year about this time.  We enjoy the waterfalls and the beautiful views.  It can be crowded in summer but the key is getting there before 8:00AM, parking the car and then hiking everywhere you want to go or taking the shuttle around the valley.  Do not attempt to re-park, once parked and take food with you!

So back to this Alex guy.  I was thinking how we are all Free Solo-ing every day in this thing we call life.  In many ways its more scary than climbing El Cap.  Alex prepared.  He practiced every pitch on his chosen route over and over until he had every move memorized and it was just automatic.  He had specific notes about when to do what move, how to move his body, his hands, his feet, where to put them.  The consequence of making a wrong move was death.

We don’t really have that luxury.  We can’t practice for what’s to come because we don’t what is coming, in most cases.  We have to just go out there everyday and Free Solo our way around whatever the mountain throws at us.  There are sections of granite in Yosemite on big slabs like El Cap called flake.  Granite can flake unexpectedly and break away, leading a climber to an early death or injury.  The same thing often happens in life.  Something we thought was steady and true and never changing all of a sudden changes without warning and we have two choices, let it kill us or adjust, grab our rope and find another way up.

Today is Pentecost.  Today we celebrate the rope that God sent us, the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes I forget that rope is there.  Sometimes I want to do it all by myself and I forget to reach out for the rope and then smack, down I go.

It’s pretty cool that Alex climbed this massive piece of granite without a rope.  He considers himself a militant atheist.  I’m not sure what that means actually, to be honest.  I read it here...

I’m just glad that as I do my own Free Solo in life I have a rope ready and waiting for me any time I want it.  I notice, for me, its when I forget about my rope,  that I get the most worried and anxious.   When I start to think I need to do it all by myself that I get the most frustrated and tired.

In reality, Alex didn’t climb El Cap with a rope but he had one.  He had his friends who worked with him daily during the climbing season to help him train.  He had an awesome crew of camera men and fellow climbers cheering him on. He had his girlfriend supporting him in his dream.  He had many ropes.  He just didn’t see them or at least in the movie acknowledge them.

If you watch the movie you’ll see he’s a rather self-centered man.  I guess in some ways you need to be to accomplish amazing things.  Maybe he’s changed by now.  I hope one day he will also find the only rope that really matters.

For Today…For Yosemite, God’s beautiful creation, and ropes! I Give Thanks!

KOR

Here’s a picture of a meadow we love!