I read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen several years ago. It is a story about Brian, a 14-year-old boy whose plane crashes in the wilderness. He is left alone in the Canadian forest for several months. He only has a hatchet and the clothes on his back. He learns through trial and error how to survive. The story is fiction but is based on true events. I was impressed with the way Brian learned to survive in an extremely harsh environment. It took both physical and mental fortitude for Brian to survive. He could be called a mental warrior.
A mental warrior is not someone who is argumentative or fights against the status quo. They don’t carry a chip on the shoulder or snarl at every problem that comes along, and they don’t shrink in fear at someone’s words. A mental warrior is someone who can control their mind. They recognize the mind is like a stage. Thoughts, like actors, enter and exit. You are the director. You decide which actors will stay to play the scene and who will be kicked off the stage. Thoughts do not attack, and you are not compelled to entertain them. Thoughts of depression and anger are subject to our wills as much as cheerfulness and optimism. We are presented with the circumstance, and we, in an instant, are given a choice to find ways to replace the thoughts or invite them to sit down and have tea. A mental warrior kicks out thoughts of discouragement and replaces them with thoughts of solutions.
Children growing up today must face different challenges. They do not live in the world we did. They have cellphones, computers, video games and instant gratification. Most have never had to do manual labor. They have never had to grow their own food or gather firewood. Most have grown up with dishwashers, vacuums, microwaves and garbage disposals. Some have never even gone on a camping trip. I wonder if they would have the mental fortitude to survive in a world without machinery. Will they ever become mental warriors like Brian?
Our minds are precious, and the thoughts we choose to allow to sit down will make a difference.
I often wonder what we are losing in this everything-at-your-fingertips society. We watch the television, internet and movies where every aspect of the story is spelled out in surround sound, airbrushed living color and amplified music. In our modern world, we don’t have to think; just let information flow over us as we sit in a lackadaisical stupor. We go from day to day connecting with everything and everybody, but seldom making connections. We don’t ask the important questions: What does it mean? What am I supposed to learn from this hour and a half for which I sold my precious time? What eternal tidbit of value did that Facebook post or email teach me? What difference has it made in my life?
I wonder if our children are being taught to think or are they just being spoon-fed information that will come as an A-B-C or all-of-the-above answer on a multiple choice test.
We were meant to learn from the world around us. Scriptures use parables and symbolism to teach the great lessons of life. Moses raised a serpent in the wilderness to symbolize those who look to the Savior, who would one day hang on the cross, to symbolize the fact that if you are sick spiritually and look to the Savior, He will heal you. The story of the manna in the wilderness is symbolic of our need and quest for spiritual food that comes daily from the Holy Spirit, if we take the time to gather it through prayer and scripture study. The sacrifices of animals symbolized the sacrifice of Jesus. He would be slain for the sins of the world.
God could have spelled everything out in literal terms, saying, “Look, you are supposed to pray. You are supposed to trust in the Savior, and He will die for you.” He chose to use symbolism because symbolism teaches on two levels. Only the obvious ideas come across as the story is told, but the symbol, or what the story represents, connects to the principle and is much more instructive. Symbolism causes you to think and make connections, not just listen to or participate in an interesting story.
If we are vigilant and spiritually aware, Jesus will still teach us in parables as He did in His mortal ministry. One day, when I was much more agile, I decided to walk to my husband’s work. He worked about 1.5 miles from our house. I decided to take the scenic route, which crossed a rocky hill, down a ravine and over another hill. I had taken that route many times a few years ago, but I had forgotten the fact that I would have to cross a barbed-wire fence to get to the road that led to his work. I made the trek just fine until I came to the fence. I had grown a bit fluffy since I last crossed the fence, but I didn't realize how much until I crossed through the wire and caught my clothes top and bottom on the barbs of the fence. I was stuck. I tugged this way and that. I pulled this barb off my shirt, only to be snagged again. I knew I was in trouble if I didn't get out of the situation. You can't just stay in a bent-knee-squatting position very long without giving out. That would be disastrous. I didn't want to tear my clothes, and worse, I didn’t want to rip my skin. I have done that before, and it hurts.
I finally wilted down on one leg and ripped my pants and my leg in the process. I pulled all the snags off my shirt as I went down. Finally, I was free. I wasn’t badly hurt, and my pants would survive. I had to laugh at myself. I should never try to go through a fence by myself. I need someone to hold the fence up and press the wire down in order for me to get through without a scratch, especially at my age.
Later, when I thought about my plight, a parable came to mind. Going through adversity is like going through a barbed-wire fence. You need help from above and below. Of course, the barbed wire represents the adversity we must all pass through. Everything can be bright and sunny, and the journey passes just fine, and the next minute, you are standing in front of a barbed-wire fence. It doesn’t look daunting, and you think you can get through it by yourself, but halfway through, you get stuck. You know you are going to make choices that will make the situation worse, but you are powerless. If we pray, the Lord will send help. He will inspire someone to come to our aid, someone who will step on the bottom wire and allow you to pass through unharmed. If He doesn’t send someone to your aid, He will give you inspiration to be able to lift the wire high enough to free yourself, even if you suffer the consequences of your choice.
Life is full of parables. All of nature is designed to teach us lessons we cannot learn any other way. Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.” (Matthew 6:28 KJV) He wanted us to learn from them. We just need to look around and even pray for eyes to see His parables written in full color in our lives. The Lord still teaches as He did centuries ago; He still uses symbolism and parables.
In a world where everything is instant gratification, we need to be especially vigilant to teach our children to see beyond the obvious. We can’t allow ourselves to vegetate in front of man-made devices and expect to see the face of God. We must connect to God’s creations and read His unwritten parables designed just for us.
As we tune ourselves to God, we will learn to be mental warriors, trusting that God knows the answers to every question, and we can learn by looking for His face in everything we do. If He is not there, don’t invite the world to sit down in our minds and have tea.
