| As some of you may have heard, I spent a week in Alaska last month. It was the trip of the lifetime thanks to Sherry’s brother Ken who works for half of the year up there. Ken is a chef at the largest salmon processing plant in Naknek. Thanks to his frequent flyer miles, seven of us were able to join Ken once his season was over. Perhaps the most dramatic experience was watching the bears at Katmai National Park. This was the time of year for the salmon to swim upstream to spawn, and eventually die. The bears were there to help the process along! Actually, they have their own life and death struggle going on. The bears need to put on enough fat to sustain them through the long winter hibernation. It was truly a dramatic struggle for survival. A dance between life and death that one normally would witness on a nature documentary. It is even more vivid in real life. Fortunately for us, we do not have to engage in such a violent lifestyle in order to survive the year. As human beings we enjoy free will. We can and do make choices. But of course, we have that luxury only when other needs are met. As Abraham Maslow pointed out, we have needs that have to be met if we are to not just survive but thrive as human beings. This is something that the bears could not ever understand; the need to connect and be accepted. Indeed, it is only the shared fight for salmon fueled calories that bring the bears together. Bears are solitary creatures. Indeed, even if cubs get too close to the feeding frenzy, they are likely to be hurt or killed themselves. Bears have no sense of continuation or legacy. They will literally eat their young if given a chance. Here too is where our free will comes in. We choose to nurture our children. We can imagine a day in which they will be in charge of things. If we want our values and principles to be sustained, we must instill them in our kids. And the best way to do that, the absolute sure-fire way to ensure that it happens, is to live out the values we claim to be most important to us. We human beings are more than simply bears acting on an instinct to feed and sleep. We dream. And choose. To keep dreaming and choosing and living. So that our cubs can learn to do the same. May You Be Blessed Always, Rev. Dr. Joshua Snyder |
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