SPOONIN’ AND MOONIN’
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? Ecclesiastes 4:9-11
Last night we had our first meeting of the Purity Project For Men at City on a Hill (formerly Celebration Fellowship). Our vision is to be Men who desire to walk in purity of mind and body. The topic for the night was Lone Rangers. Why do we as men think we must go it alone and what is the value of having a fellowship of other men to walk with and share with?
One question was, “When have you seen the value of having other men in your life?” So in the interest of vulnerability and transparency I told my story of Spoonin and Moonin.
My senior year of college four (the other three will remain anonymous lest they sue me for telling this) of us who had grown up together in West Texas and now were at Baylor University, decided to spend our last Spring Break shooting the rapids on the Rio Grande river through the Santa Elena and Boquillas canyons. We never made it to the Boquillas. We were fortunate to survive the Santa Elena.
Because it is in the Big Bend National Park we had to check in with the park rangers before we put into the river. He questioned us about our equipment and told us we were not equipped for the Santa Elena and once in it there was no way out but forward. The Canyon walls reach 1500 feet above the river and the river narrows at the canyon mouth creating some real rapids. Particularly in the March rains. He told us, “Almost every year someone dies in that canyon.”
We were 22 years old and West Texas boys so we scoffed at the Ranger and went into the river anyway. After a day of lazy river riding in our little raft we could hear the roar of the canyon entrance 15 minutes before we reached it. When we hit the entrance, where the river narrows down to half its width, our raft was immediately flipped over and we and everything we had went into the river. We spent the rest of the day in the river fighting for our lives. Little did we know that would only be our first fight for survival.
We eventually found a place where we could get out of the river and take stock of our situation. Everything was wet. Clothes, sleeping bags (the couple that we had been able to recover). On top of that, when the sun goes down in the desert it gets cold in March. Thus our second struggle. We knew we were now facing the real possibility of hypothermia. A fun, exciting outing with buds had quickly turned into a fight for life. We had enough knowledge of survival skills to know we had one option, and everyone was going to have to buy in. We stripped naked to get dry and then crawled beneath wet sleeping bags and spent the night Spoonin’ and Moonin’, shivering and praying for the sun to come up in the morning. Of course, we first swore an oath of secrecy for life. I had the thought, “I wonder if they will respect me in the morning?” I may now have to go into the witness protection program for ratting them out. (At least I didn’t name them!)
The Point? If any of us had been alone that night there is a good chance we might not have survived. Together we made it out.
In so many ways that experience is a picture of life. When we try to go it alone we die. If not physically, for sure emotionally and spiritually. When we isolate and refuse to connect with others the end result is never good. God’s Word tells us that and it never lies. God didn’t create us to be Lone Rangers. He created us for community.
Sometimes it isn’t comfortable to open ourselves up completely to others. The thought of doing it can sometimes bring a grown man to his knees in fear. I can guarantee you that night of spoonin’ and moonin’ wasn’t comfortable. But it was necessary and I’m thankful for the life-sustaining warmth it provided. I’m also thankful for other men I can join with in the process of becoming what the Father desires me to be.
So get out there! Spoon and Moon! It may not be comfortable but the results will be worth effort!