by Pastor Paul Clark
The boy warily stepped into the field. The sunny meadow was brightly robed in wildflowers. Among the abundance of red clover, purple aster, and goldenrod, large bumblebees lifted lazily from plant to plant, their back legs heavy-laden with rich yellow pollen. The boy gazed across the expanse of the field to the line of dark woods that lay beyond. Those woods were forbidden and unexplored territory.
What unknown terrors lurked there?
Perhaps there were ravenous monsters that were especially fond of little boys! The boy crouched and stared at that dark and dusky line of trees, thoughtfully chewing on a clover stem. Then, he turned back and headed toward home.
That boy’s name was Paul. That boy was me.
My childhood home in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was in a new subdivision that bordered a rather large area of forest. Crossing our backyard, one could immediately enter the woods. Some of my best childhood memories are of exploring those woods. Early on, I had a love and interest in nature—especially birds, bugs, and critters. In addition, my friends and I played cops and robbers in those woods, hiding, springing out, our cap guns drawn and ready.
But these were what my parents called the “first woods.” I was allowed to roam freely there with little supervision. After a relatively short stretch, those familiar woods came to an abrupt end at the meadow. That was the field where I stood and contemplated the mysteries of what my parents called “the second woods,” those dark and dismal woods which I was forbidden to enter, lest I fall into possible danger out of earshot of my parents. Naturally, to this boy’s mind, that meant that there had to be monsters in there. Though I walked into the field and gazed at those “second woods,” I never entered them, though I always wondered what I would have found there.
The Christian life is often like a tension between the “first woods” and the “second woods.” We are given boundaries by God in the Ten Commandments. These boundaries are for our good. But there is always that temptation to see what lies beyond. What is in those “second woods”? What forbidden fruit lies there, awaiting our discovery? There are times in every Christian’s life that he or she crosses that field and enters those woods, often to their peril. For monsters do lurk there, but not the kind of monsters in science-fiction movies. Rather, they are the real monsters of the devil and his legions, who always work overtime to lead God’s people away from the safety of Christ and into the forest of temptation, of “self-discovery,” of undiscovered pleasures, of lust for personal gain.
Too often, Christians adopt the wicked ways and customs of the world. They become bored with “the ordinary,” with daily life, with their responsibilities to their families or neighbors, and they look for excitement, pleasure, and thrills. They seek to enter those second woods, rebelling against their Heavenly Father who has told them not to venture into that dark and fearful abode.
How do we resist such temptation? How do we protect ourselves against such evil powers? This is what Holy Scripture tells us to do: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).
Do you see? Schemes! In our search for something new, something different, something exciting, we may find ourselves suddenly lost in the darkest and deepest of woods. We may think that we are only seeking adventure, pleasure, or gain, but if that leads us to abandon or neglect our daily duties and vocations as husband, wife, father, mother, child, employer, employee, citizen, pastor, or congregation lay member, then it is nothing less than a scheme of the devil, the evil one, the liar, the manipulator, the hater of all that is good.
James does not hold back when he tells us, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8).
Now there is nothing wrong with wanting to experience certain activities or adventures in life, as long as they do not go against God’s Word or lead us away from Him or our daily vocation. For example, a friend of mine finally fulfilled a wish and went skydiving. I was glad for him. But I have no envy whatsoever! I do enjoy plummeting down that first hill on a roller-coaster, but I do not have the slightest inclination to jump out of a plane. But for this dear Christian man, it was a thrill to do so. We all seek a little excitement from time to time, some perhaps more than others. But it is in the ordinary of daily life under God that we find our calling and our greatest blessing. In Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, one of the main characters finally realizes this:
“And I watched for miracles, complained that I did not see a miracle that would convince me. A material miracle would have persuaded me. And here is a miracle … surrounding me on all sides, and I never noticed it.”
Sadly, some only seek evidence of God through “material miracles.” They seek excitement. They scorn ritual and routine. They want worship to be “spontaneous,” “dynamic,” and even “fun.” But they do not see the miracle surrounding us on all sides in daily vocation, in providence, in our daily bread, our families, and our freedoms. They forget that God was not in the earthquake or the fire but in the “still, small whisper.” God is a God of order. The ritual and liturgy of the Divine Service surround us regularly with God’s holy Presence, though often we fail to notice it.
Beware of the never-ending pursuit of happiness. Life often becomes unavoidably difficult. Worldly offerings of riches, sexual pleasures, and catering to one’s ego never end up satisfying.
Dr. Armand Nicholi, clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School states that one of the leading causes of depression is a person’s worldview. He found that students who have a secular godless worldview seem to struggle more with depression than those who have a Christian worldview, and they do not respond very quickly to treatment. Their struggle is a result of their feelings of cosmic insignificance. For so many of them, life seems pointless.
Life is not pointless. Life is a gift from God. Life is redeemed by Jesus, who mounted that cross to set us free from the curse of sin. In His resurrection is our resurrection. It is our Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom.
Remember your Baptism! We say that often, and we should, but when we say to remember your Baptism, it is like saying this: “Remember that God remembers you.” For He does. And in Baptism, He brings you to Jesus.
I never disobeyed my folks and entered those second woods. I disobeyed them on lots of other occasions, however, such as skipping school and hiding in our neighbor’s cornfield. I am a sinner. So are you. But we have a Savior, and we know Him, and He remembers us, and He loves us, and He rescues us.
As Robert Frost wrote:
“The woods are lovely dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”
I cherished playing in those woods as a boy, but as lovely as they were, I could not stay there. I had to come home.
So it is with God’s people. We hasten to the voice of our Shepherd. We serve in our vocation. We walk the road of faith. We have promises to keep. And miles to go before we sleep.
One day, instead of worrying about the dangers in this world and what monsters lie in wait in those dark “second woods,” we will explore them at our leisure, no longer afraid of any danger. This is illustrated so well by C. S. Lewis in the final book of his Chronicles of Narnia series. As the children passed through the doorway at Aslan’s right hand:
“It was the unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right forehoof on the ground and neighed, and then cried: ‘I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now … COME FURTHER UP, COME FURTHER IN!’”
One day … yes. One day … soon. COME, LORD JESUS!
Pastor Paul Clark is President of Lutherans For Life of Michigan.