Two years ago, I was leading a canoe trip for my church through The Trough in Hampshire County, WV. The Trough is a seven mile river gorge in the beautiful and rugged Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. It was aptly named by George Washington during his surveying years because it resembles a trough. The only way to gain access to The Trough is either by canoe or the scenic railroad. The ruggedness of the terrain makes it a wonderful habitat for golden eagles and our nations treasure; bald eagles. Of all the local canoe runs in Hampshire County, this is by far my favorite.
During this canoe trip my brother was the navigator and I was the stern paddler responsible for steering the canoe. On this day, we made a great paddling team. We were running the challenging rapids perfectly and were enjoying the beautiful scenery The Trough offered us this day; and we were enjoying each challenge the river brought our way. We successfully maneuvered our canoe through small ripples to the more severe Class II offset rocky ledges without capsizing or swamping the boat. We were feeling great and even a little prideful because of our skill at running the river. Towards the end, we were well ahead of our group, so I decided it was best to slow down and wait for the rest to catch up with us. As the guide, I do not like to get too far ahead of my group so I can offer friendly advice or helpful tips to those in need. So picture this scene--two grown men, sitting in a canoe, in shin deep slow moving water waiting on the group to catch up. We were simply talking and goofing off when to both of our surprise, one of us made an unanticipated motion that caused us to flip the Old Town canoe. Immediately, our canoe was swamped and our gear was soaked. This was one of the funniest things that have happened to me while canoeing. It was a very surreal moment for both of us because we made it through several challenging rapids unscathed and ended up swamping while sitting still in shallow, slow moving water. Fortunately, the water was only shin deep so it was very easy to recover our gear and the canoe, and it gave us a chance to get wet and cool off, but I would be a liar if I did not admit that our pride was injured. The guide is not supposed to fall, yet here we were soaked and wet. This was definitely a memory that neither of us will ever forget.
I am reminded of Proverbs 16:18 (HCSB) that says, “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.” There is a lot of wisdom in this scripture that we can live by on a daily basis. As humans it’s easy to forget our roots or how much work it took us to be successful in life, and it can be easy to allow pride to rule our attitudes. In our personal or spiritual lives we can overcome our struggles everyday and forget that we have weaknesses. It is during these highlights in life, that we need to be more aware of our weaknesses or struggles, so that we do not fall into sin or give in to our weaknesses. We can do this by not allowing pride to rule our lives or our attitudes. We must never forget that God has blessed us or that others have helped us to achieve our goals. We must not forget that we cannot reach our goals alone. The moment that you allow pride in your life, is the beginning of the end. Pride will eventually cause you to fall, maybe not into financial or personal ruins, but it will cause you to fall off your pedestal. Just when you least expect it, the canoe is jerked in an unanticipated motion and you will swamp your boat. Live your life everyday, with humility and maintain a thankful heart. Do not boast of your success, but allow others around you to receive some praise from time to time. Be aware that we all are finite human beings and that we all have weaknesses. If you follow these tips, then you too can make it to the end without swamping.
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Betty and I used to own a lot just below the Trough. We floated down from Moorefield on several occasions. Every time we went down we saw Eagles. It is a beautiful stretch of water and woodland.
ReplyDeleteNone of us really were experts at canoeing but we enjoyed the float anyway.
My dad went with us on one trip. He was in his late 70's at the time. My oldest son and a granddaughter were also in the canoe at the time. They got ahead of us and when we came around a bend we saw all of them in the water holding onto the canoe for dear life. Dad had made a manuever that caused the canoe to overturn. Not only that be he had wrapped it around a boulder in the river and the canoe was actually bent from the force of the rapids.
We were fortunate to get him and the others out and get the canoe straightened out enough to get them to the end of the trip but I'll never forget the seriousness of navigating the rapids in the river. It frequently reminds me of just how quickly we can "overturn" our lives with just one wrong move during our daily travels.
Jack