The Narrow Road to Adventure — A Metaphor
Jeffrey Paul Erikson, born 1953, was dangerous, reckless, and wild at heart. He was hansom, dark complected, rugged. Jeffers, as his mother called him, never started a fight, but he finished a few. His powerful arms dangled from broad shoulders ending with strong electrician hands. He was the quintessential man’s man, an adventurer. The roads Jeff traveled were like no other. Here are three of his adventures. One dangerous, one reckless, and one showing he was truly wild at heart. Then a metaphor.
Dangerous:
A reckless man who is willing to cut off his nose despite his face is dangerous. Highway 10 between Elk River and Anoka, Minnesota was dark with no cars on it because of the late hour. Deep in thought, driving in the left lane of the four-lane highway, Jeff drifted into the right lane, not checking his blind spot, or noticing the car in it. A horn blast snapped him together. He yanked the wheel correcting his error. As the violated car sped by he gave a wave and shrug of sorry. The offended driver shook his fist in contempt. Jeff pulled in behind. As it turns out, the pissed off driver was not placated by the shrug of sorry and he decided to exact revenge. The driver slowed to 50, to 40, to 30. When Jeff tried to go around, the driver swerved to dissuade a pass on the left. Jeff thought, OK man, I am sorry, get the hell over it. As Jeff’s patients ran out, he flashed his head lights to no avail.
A reckless man who is willing to cut off his nose despite his face is dangerous. An electrician’s rusty 1972 blue Ford 150 work truck, loaded with tools and ladders, is no match for a sedan. The first bump was a love tap. The now surprised driver swerved a bit as he processed what happened. Frozen like a deer in headlights, the offended driver did not move out of the way or accelerate, probably thinking I might have picked the wrong fight. Ok, game over, move over, Jeff thought, as he pressed on the accelerator harder this time. Ramming speed! CRUNCH! With tail light extinguished, trunk rumpled, the originally pissed, but now pissing himself, driver pulled over on to the shoulder. Jeff sped away…later asshole! Fortunately, Jeff never heard from the police, but he wasn’t worried either way. He made his point.
Reckless:
North to Alaska! Jeff, being an electrician, moved to Anchorage, Alaska because of the housing boom, thanks to the Alaska pipeline. Needless to say, there was a lot of money to be made up there. A gold rush of sorts, black gold, Texas tea.
He loved to hunt and the best way to get around Alaska is by pontoon plane. So of course, he and a buddy bought a plane. Who needs a pilot’s license? Just have the former owner show you how to fly. Jeff wasn’t big on the rules. One time they had flown into this lake to do some moose hunting. They shot a moose and put the meat in the pontoons of the plane. The lake wasn’t as big as they thought. Turns out the lake was easier to land on then to take off from. As they started to take off, it became apparent that there was a real good chance they were going to run out of lake. Once you pass a certain point there is no cutting the engines because that would guarantee crashing into the shore. So, they committed to the takeoff only hear tree branches scraping the bottom of the pontoons. Yikes!
Wild at Heart:
Still in Alaska, it was a wild river and a wild canoe trip. Their canoes were loaded with camping gear, a high-powered rifle (for grizzly prevention), and enough food for a three-day adventure. The winding river with rapids quickly proved boring to Jeff. About mid afternoon Jeff told his fellow adventures to drop him on shore. He was going to walk inland a bit and down the river on foot to amplify the outing. He wanted to be alone and on his own. He told his friends to paddle downstream just a little further and set up camp and he would meet them there. The river ran faster than his friends realized and they set up camp WAY down the river.
With rifle in hand and a heart filled with anticipation, Jeff started his add on adventure. He quickly realized that whenever he encountered a stream it caused a deep ravine so he needed to go inland even further to circumnavigate it. The journey proved much more arduous then anticipated. Combine that with the distance to the camp, darkness was descending fast! Realizing his mistake, he accepted the inevitable. A night alone in the vast wilderness was upon him. With only a small fire to keep him warm, he snuggled with his rifle like a marine in his fox hole. Every noise was nefarious.
The sun rose like a new beginning. He fired his riffle to let his companions know he was alive and headed back, back to the river that was adventure enough. It dawned on him his wild heart lead him astray. If he would have got turned around going around one of the ravines, and lost sight of the river or a stream, it would bad. He could have gotten lost in that wild wilderness with gnashing of teeth, days of disillusion, and ultimately a lonely death.
His arrival to camp was bitter sweet. He was angry at his canoe mates, himself, and anyone else he could blame. The powerful river current was now his friend and the beauty, the majesty, and the task of keeping the canoe upright in the rapids, was adventure enough for his wild heart.
A Metaphor:
Matthew 7:13–14 New International Version (NIV)
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
The river: The narrow road
The current: God’s grace
The rapids: The narrow road is filled with danger and adventure
The river banks: God’s guidance
The canoe and the gear: God blessings
The fellow adventurers: The people who God puts in our lives, but sometimes can let us down
The power, beauty, and majesty of the river: God’s creation
The ravines: Stumbling stones that tempt, distract, and divert us from God’s plan for our lives
The surrounding wilderness: Death and destruction
Jeff embraced his God given wild heart, his deep desire for adventure, but he never asked for direction. He lived an adventurous life, but to what end? The world, his flesh, and the evil one, betrayed his heart at every fork in the road. All of us can have our hearts broken and betrayed. Jeffers’ heart was broken. He was chubby and picked on as a child. He struggled in school and never went to college, like his siblings and driven father had. Like many men he felt he was on his own. No adventure could heal his broken heart. So the adventures just got more and more dangerous. The last road he traveled, the last attempt to heal his heart, lead to his demise. Alcohol.
Mercy Hospital, Anoka, MN. The intensive care room was dark, somber, and sterile, “Nurse!, Nurse!” Jeff called out in fear, “Open the shades, it is dark in here.” Then an Angel of mercy walked in and explained God’s grace and forgiveness. Jeff accepted God’s forgiveness for all his self-protection, for his self-redemption, and for all his false comforts. (Healing Prayer, Ransomed Hearts. http://www.ransomedheart.com/prayer/prayer-inner-healing ) Like the thief on the cross, Jeff accepted Jesus. “Nurse, close the shades, I need some rest, real rest”.
The next day, as his siblings surrounded Jeff’s bed, his breathing slowed. As he breathed his last breath, a smile shaped his lips and a tear, yellow from jaundice, caressed his face. His sister proclaimed from her tear caressed face and smile shaped lips, “He sees Angels”. His wild heart was set free and now let the eternal adventure begin! Jeff found the river of life!
Author’s note: This story is dedicated to Jeffrey Paul Erikson (1953–1998), a brother filled with love and passion. The story was inspired by the book Wild at Heart, by John Eldridge. Read the book. It changed my life. It will change yours.