The Cactus Eaters by Dan White

In the late sixties I first read My Side of the Mountain and was forever hooked. Between that book and The Willie Mays Story (thanks Scholastic book service) my love for voracious reading was kindled. “Mountain” is every boy’s ideal adventure; running away, living in a tree with a pet peregrine falcon, how could it get any better? That remained the standard for a wild escapade until I checked out a library book about a young man who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail alone, the title of which escapes me. Here was an adventure, a solo journey into my beloved mountain forests, hiking with a gigantic, external-frame Kelty backpack and enormous leather boots. I longed for years to emulate this hike, thinking about it on shorter jaunts and knowing that I would never be able to set aside the time to actually accomplish it. I would have to enjoy it vicariously.

image With my radar tuned this way, a browse through the local bookstore landed on Dan White’s recently published book The Cactus Eaters. White’s memoir brought Mountain immediately to mind as he chucks his newspaper job and goads his much more driven girlfriend into a grand lark, hiking the 2650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. Never mind that they had not been more than weekend hikers nor had they shared any confined space in the past, this pair set out into the heat of the Southern California desert. Dan and Allison were going to face the Sierra Nevada, the Cascades and all of the challenges with 70 pounds of camping gear strapped to their backs. We’re not given Allison’s reasons for joining the expedition except boredome and wanderlust, but Dan is revelatory in hoping to reshape his image of himself and escape the tentacles of adult life.

The travails start early in the Mojave as the pair discovers that this journey might be harder than they anticipated. Scarce water is jettisoned on a whim as the barrenness of the environment plays with the hiker’s minds, exposing their raw personalities. Dan’s insecurities threaten to derail the journey at numerous junctions, his snarky observations of other hikers and the trail angels who come to his aid giving the narrative a darker edge. A part of Dan’s journey of self realization appears to be the criticism of others, evident in his gleeful attachment to the pejorative unbecoming description of hikers following Ray Jardine’s methods. As he describes his girlfriends transformation into a hardened, shapely, sun-bleached blond, he also seems to be so insecure that the reader is led to wonder why Allison doesn’t leave him at one of the supply stops…walking away humming a death metal hiking ode.

Unlike Bryson’s Appalachian trail memoir, The Cactus Eaters ends on a very sour note. Abandoning his girlfriend, Dan paints a picture of his spiral into near insanity after completing the trail in a second trip. His self absorption in the final pages threatens to ruin the entirety of the preceding pages as the ordinary guy of the first steps of the trek becomes little more than a simpering boy, sitting in his room in his boxers purportedly longing to be like the men he met on the trail who had cast off the bonds of polite society, yet lacking the courage to do so.

Cactus Eaters is a fine trail narrative, good for a summer read as we each consider our own little adventures. Except for White’s meltdown and his admittedly boorish treatment of his girlfriend, he is a writer we can look forward to reading in the future.

In a Predestined Universe II

Michaelangelo's paintingIn a foreordained universe, where every act is according to God’s plan, why does he become angry when His actors fulfill their roles?

Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.” (2 Sam 24:1)

We ask why God would be angry with Israel since they were acting according to His will and then, why would he cause David to sin (via the census) and bring further wrath upon the people?

Friday is For Rawk! A Little More Irish

As the late great Phil Lynott once said, “Is there anybody out there that’d like a little more Irish in them.” Rory Gallagher for your viewing and listening pleasure. Not well known to American audiences but give it a listen. It also raises the question: How do young guitarists learn to play slide without the Coricidin bottles anymore? Rub the little foil packet along the strings?

American Exceptionalism

It is considered politically incorrect, arrogant, and socially heretical to proclaim, but on this day when we celebrate the humble beginnings of the United States of America, I will exclaim that in the history of the world, the USA is an exceptional nation. To say this is to risk excoriation by those who believe otherwise, but I will not retreat from this position. The vast majority of us are children and grandchildren and great-great grandchildren of those who emigrated to these shores voluntarily with the hopes and dreams of a better life than that which would have been possible in their homeland and collectively we have built one of greatest forces for good that the world has seen, all of it rooted in the liberty enjoyed by each of her citizens.

I don’t take a pollyannaish view of the United States as being without flaw. We enslaved human beings, freed them and did immeasurable damage to their human dignity by discriminating against them. We have enabled virtually unfettered destruction of human life through the abortion trade which has had the unintended consequence of forever affecting the mores of generations. We have failed to count the unmentioned human costs of some of our geopolitical decisions and we often overlook those who survive in the shadows of our own cities.

America is not without her warts and scars but we are at the core founded on a noble principle, that all men and women are created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of their purpose. In living out this belief we have shed blood, brother against brother over this issue of slavery. We have shed American blood in countless foreign locations in securing not only our own continued liberty, but the freedom for others only related to us by our genus. When we have claimed victory in those conflicts we have taken no ground, no spoils of conquest except to ask for small plots of land to bury our sons and daughters where they fell.

America is exceptional in the quality of life that she offers her citizens, giving them the freedom to pursue their dreams whether they be productive, creative, scholastic, or philosophical. This liberty has led the world in innovation and the creation of value in a tide that has raised countless other boats throughout the world. Yes, the tide goes in and out, but the unstoppable spirit of liberty finds a way to stay afloat during the low tide, all the while planning for the next wave.

Finally, in a reflection that is not performed often enough we must recognize those of our citizens who see nothing but the warts and the evil of the US. Each of them should take five minutes to consider the liberty they enjoy in being able to freely voice their dissent without fear or imprisonment or worse. They should consider the resources and wealth of the nation that gives them the freedom to devote their energies to their complaints with little sacrifice of their own. And, finally they should consider the enormous risk taken by those who two hundred and thirty years ago affixed their names to a document proclaiming their intent to form a society never seen before in the world.

Poor, poor Uzzah and The New Cart

In an ongoing discussion with a brother in another forum (here) I was reflecting on the importance of Holiness in the Church and how it is affected by our theological constructs. There is a telling incident in 2 Samuel that gives us a lot to dwell upon. King David, recognizing that the Ark represented the earthly throne of God devoted himself and Israel to returning it to Jerusalem. His motives are good but his actions turn out bad, as we will see:

David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill.

ArkCart Oops, a small detail catches our attention. The ark is set upon a new cart for its transport back to Jerusalem. God should be pleased with our motivation and the way we decided to move it. After all, our hearts are in the right place. But, if we refer back to God’s instructions for handling the ark ( Exodus 25:12-15 ) we find that it is to be carried on poles balanced on the shoulders of the Levites. Why would David make such an error? Not because he was ignorant of importance of the ark or the instructions of the Lord but because he was affected by the culture. He saw the Philistines transport the ark by cart with no ill effect and he followed in their footsteps. Perhaps David thought that the ‘rules’ could be overcome by the charismatic worship of the Lord that surrounded the movement:

Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.

We stand warned that worship that we deem worthy of God is not always so.

Neither are all of the actions that we take on behalf of God. It is easy for us as sentient beings to feel that if our motivations tell us we are doing the right thing that it will be perceived by everyone as being the right thing. This may work on an interpersonal level but our Lord is stickler for detail. Watch His reaction when we substitute what we think is right for what He says is right:

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.

Uzzah had the purest of motives in keeping the holy ark from touching the ground but this purity still conflicted with God’s clear instructions. How often do we substitute our ideas for what is right for the clear instructions of our Lord? For myself, probably far too often. When the consequences of our actions visit us, do we repent or do we get angry with God? David himself gives us a clue as to what usually happens:

Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.

Perhaps beginning today, we reexamine the things we do to please God. Are they in line with His expectations or do we expect Him to fall in line with ours?

Friday is for Rawk! The Other Rush

Long overlooked but fantastic nonetheless, Ladies and Gentleman, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush…

The last time I saw them was at a Day on the Green in 79 or 80 (Man, am I getting old!) and it was memorable in that one of our party swung a jug of lemonade at me, missed and hit one of Oakland’s “Angels” instead. Time stood still as the stream rose skyward and then, as he turned …