How Far Can You Go?

I like to challenge myself…. So sometimes I do really stupid stuff. Last Tuesday was no exception.  

 

I take care of the lighting system for the “Battle Mountain Cross” in San Diego. I installed the lighting system 25 years ago and have been maintaining it ever since. But this year, I wanted to upgrade the system, so I decided to install four new heavy duty LED Spotlights that will save energy, increase the brightness of the Cross and last up to 10 years. It was a great idea, but the problem was getting the equipment and tools up the mountain. There are no roads, so you have to hike and carry everything by hand. Here’s the stupid part…I had plenty of people volunteer to help me but I decided at the spur of the moment Tuesday morning (since I had to go to San Diego on business anyway) to try to install two of the fixtures by myself.

 

Halfway up the mountain with a backpack full of tools and dragging a dolly with two 40lb fixtures over ruts and rocks, I nearly gave up. It was a really hot day so my legs were cramping, my arms were aching and about three quarters the way up I was sweating so profusely I thought I was going to lose my lunch right there on the trail. I sat down on a rock for over 10 minutes and thought about what kind of idiot would try to do this by himself. But then I looked up the mountain and caught a glimpse of the cross and was instantly reminded of how important that Cross is to me and how it changed my life so dramatically back in 1988.

 

I eventually got off my butt and continued up the mountain. The last section is the steepest and it was really difficult to maneuver the dolly but I finally made it to the top. I threw off my backpack and downed a full bottle of water (which was another stupid move because I only brought one bottle of water). I spent the next hour removing the old lights, cleaning 25 years’ worth of dirt and dead bugs out of the ground vault and installing the new fixtures. I was really excited about putting in the new lights and couldn’t wait to see the results at night.

Out with the old...and in with the new!



Here’s the kicker…I finished up with the new lights and then I realized that I now had to haul the old light fixtures back down the steep mountain. So I strapped them to my dolly and about halfway down, wouldn’t you know it, a wheel broke off. I just stopped and laughed at my circumstances. My shirt was torn, I was covered in sweat and my body was more exhausted than I have ever been in my life, and I still had to somehow get all that equipment down the mountain. When I finally made it down the mountain there was a gardener working in the front yard of one of the homes at the base of the trail. He just looked at me and laughed and said something like, “Que pasa amigo?” He was probably thinking something more like, “Tu es muy loco, amigo!”

 

Looking back I know I shouldn’t have taken such a risk. I was lucky I didn’t get hurt or at my age have a heart attack, but like I said at the beginning of this story…I love a challenge. And the challenge I love the most…. is honoring God in everything that I do.

The Cross on top of Battle Mountain





Only those who risk going too far can

possibly find out how far they can go. 

                       ~ T. S. Eliot