The Bear that Wasn't There
The words sliced through the night air, leaving a trail
of terror in their wake: "IT'S A BEAR!"
It could have been Karen who made the fateful statement. Her
word was always accepted as fact. Or it might have been Al,
my 10 year-old brother. But "who" it was didn't matter. The
night was ruined. It would be hours before sleep again
claimed us!
It was the summer of 1971. I was backpacking with kids from
my church, somewhere in the San Angeles Mountains in
Southern California. It was a new sport for this city girl,
but I took to it like a duck takes to water. I loved the
thrill, the fresh air, the trail mix-I even loved the
challenge of carrying a heavy backpack up steep switchbacks.
But sometimes, the unidentified noises in the night COULD be
just a LITTLE BIT scary to an eight year-old girl! So when I
found the flat, brush-enclosed area, just the right width
for THREE sleeping bags, I claimed it as MY sleeping area! I
would sleep in the middle with an older girl on either side!
I decided to invited 10 year-old Karen to join me first. She
was my partner. Together we had planned our meals, purchased
the materials, and then divvied up the food stores and
cooking supplies. But when I tried to decide which other
girl in the group to invite, I realized that just three
girls wouldn't be enough to make me feel safe. What I needed
in the group was a boy. Yes. My big brother, Al!
To my joy, both Al and Karen readily accepted the
invitation, with one tiny addendum: Al wanted to sleep in
the middle! When Karen didn't seem to object to this, I
didn't argue either. That might have given them the idea
that I was AFRAID! That would NEVER do!
So when the last of the marshmallows had been roasted over
the dying embers of the campfire, when we had sung the last
camp song, and our director had declared it time to "turn
in", Al curled up in his sleeping bag in the middle, Karen
to his left, I to his right. We talked and laughed for a few
moments, but it wasn't long before the strenuous activities
of the day caught up to them and they drifted off to sleep.
Not me, however. The noises of the night gripped my
attention. I could hear the distant hoot of an owl, the
friendly croak of hundreds of bullfrogs, and the gurgle of
the nearby creek over the rocky creek bed. I could hear the
breeze rustling through the tops of the pine trees, the
chirp of crickets in the brush, the crunch of gravel . . .
THE CRUCH OF GRAVEL???
The sound was loud enough to awaken my companions, and we
all bolted upright. Someone-or even worse, something!-was
just outside our circle of bushes! Maybe it was a raccoon
trying to get into our backpacks. Or-no, the crunch was way
too loud to be a tiny raccoon. A dog, maybe? Surely not! All
the dogs in the camp would be asleep right now with their
owners. It COULDN'T be a dog! That left only one option, and
one of my companions was quick to voice it: "IT'S A BEAR!"
Three hearts pounded madly. We were sitting ducks! Any
moment an enormous grizzly was going to come crashing
through the bushes to maul and devour three innocent
backpackers! We stared at each other. Should we run? No. The
bear would only chase us. Should we scream? No. It would
only further attract the bear. So we did the only thing that
seemed logical: We huddled together, shaking in our sleeping
bags, until the crunch of gravel moved away.
We relaxed a little then, but we didn't go back to sleep
right away. With the immediate danger gone, our fear changed
to pride. WE had been visited by a BEAR. No one else in the
camp could say the same! And we spent the next hour deciding
how we would tell the others about our nighttime visitor.
Morning dawns early in the outdoors, and with the first
signs of the sun, most of the children in our group were up.
We were delighted to find large prints around our hideout,
and it didn't take us long to have a little "audience" of
awestruck campers. Their reaction was perfect. Some were
scared. Some were enthralled by the romance of being visited
in the night by a bear. But without exception, all of them
were ENVIOUS!
How we gloried in our moment of fame! Until our director
wandered over, that is. His icy words quickly dashed our
burning pride: "You didn't see a bear! There aren't any
bears in these mountains! Those are dog prints!"
That simple statement instantly changed our status of "local
hero" to "local fool". The other kids quickly dispersed. Our
moment of glory was over.
But we didn't believe him. Nor did we believe the ranger at
the end of the trail, when he affirmed that there were
indeed, no bears in these mountains. In fact, nothing would
shake our conviction that we had been the special audience
of the ONLY bear in this part of the San Angeles Mountains.
And we stuck to our story. For years.
As an adult, I have to chuckle. Of course there was no bear.
It wasn't even logical to believe there was! But as I
reflect back on my life, I realize that I have seen many a
bear that wasn't there. Take the time I overhear someone say
the word "weird" and look in my direction. I wouldn't speak
to that person for months. Or the strange looks cast in my
way by the group of "cool" kids at school. Yup! That
DEFINITELY meant they thought I was odd! And there was the
time my boss gave MY job to someone else. That meant that he
didn't think I was competent enough to complete it, right?
And all the senseless arguments based on simple
misunderstandings: "I heard you say _________!" "No! I never
said that! YOU said __________!"
Of course, there have also been the religious bears. All of
those man-made laws of religion that I grew up embracing: If
you don't eat meat, drink coffee, or wear jewelry, and if
you DO belong to THIS church group, MAYBE you'll get to
Heaven. It was only after taking the time and effort to
study the Bible on my own that I learned the simple truth of
Salvation: My ticket to Heaven came from having faith in
what Jesus had already DONE-not in what I could DO for HIM!
How many years of freedom in Christ were ripped from my hand
by believing in the "bears" that weren't even there?
As I think back on this backpacking trip, I realize how much
better it would have been if I had taken the time and effort
to discover the truth. And maybe I wouldn't have had so many
other "bears" in my life either, if I had done the
same-looked for truth instead of proudly believing what I
thought I knew.
Are there any "bears" in your life, my friend? Is there
anything you are staunchly hanging onto that really wasn't
ever there? Perhaps a disagreement based on misunderstanding
that still keeps you and your neighbor from speaking? Or
maybe a childhood religious belief that isn't really
Biblically based? Whatever it is, examine the evidence
closely before spending the next few years declaring that
you have seen a bear that really wasn't there!
God bless you, my friends!
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart