None of us had any money, but we figured we’d just camp
along the way. We raided our families’ refrigerators and loaded up a cooler with
steaks and hamburgers. And we threw our sleeping bags in the back of Randy’s old
Hudson Hornet.
Naturally we had no plan where we would spend our first
night. We set out from our Western Colorado home late in the day, and just headed
south. 140 miles later, after midnight, we cruised into Durango. With no money
for a motel, a campground seemed like our best option. We drove through town, randomly
took a side road, which led to another dirt road and finally to a large flat
area overlooking the city. By this time we were all so tired we could hardly
see straight.
Randy just parked the car and all three of us rolled out into
our sleeping bags and fell fast asleep. When we woke up the next morning, the
sun was high in the sky. As we slowly sat up and looked around, we discovered that we were
in the city dump!
Today landfills are reasonably tidy - no hazardous waste and bulldozers constantly compacting the trash into neat piles. But
back in the day a dump was a very nasty place. It looked and smelled terrible. Dead,
decaying animals and old rusting car parts and bags of garbage and broken water
heaters were all over the place.
When the Bible speaks of hell it pictures the city dump. For
Jerusalem that was the Valley of Hinnom – “Gehenna”. Refuse, dead animals, and
garbage were hauled through the city’s “Dung Gate,” dumped into the valley, and
set on fire. With the stench of a latrine, perpetual, smoldering flames, and
worm-infested carcasses, no wonder Jesus picked this bleak, terrible image to
evoke hell: where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark
9:48).
We were just young men, enjoying the start of our new life
of adult choices and responsibilities. We felt like princes when we went to sleep, and bums when we awoke.
Now, so many years later, waking up in the dump seems funny. But over the years I've come to see our adventure as a parable of life. It reminds me that, without Christ, all of us are in for a rude awakening.
And like Paul, I now see that whatever were
gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss
because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake
I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ
(Philippians 3:7-8, NIV).
