Since childhood, I've always wanted the most out of life. I've always thought "as long as I've got about 70 years on this planet, I might as well as make the most of it". This philosophy led me on a journey to find out how to get the most out of life--- I call this journey my story to a full-on life!
I'll start in Jr. High. Like most early adolescents, self esteem is the top priorty. So I thought to myself, I will be one of (if not the most) popular person in the school. I was. See, at my school to be this person you had to be strange, strong, and good in sports. So, I would bring my 5-foot python to school wrapped around my neck--- that took care of the "strange". Then I had to be strong. So, I found one of the tough guys in school and went up to him and kicked his ass. As for the sports, I set school records in track & field as well as gymnastics. By the end of 7th grade, all the chicks dug me and everyone wanted to sign my yearbook. However, something wasn't right with all this. Life still sucked despite others' desire to be like me and I realized early in life that "popularity" has nothing to do with "life". It's a dead-end street. I think I'll try something else.
I'll never forget. It was the summer before High School that I had found life. I was still coasting on my popularity trip but with a much different twist... LET'S PARTY!!! I stayed "in enough" with the jocks in school to keep their respect, but now I was into my new discovery... marijuana! I'll never forget smoking my first joint with Rusty Smith and his buddies at John D Morgan Park in San Jose, California. We inhaled, held it in as best as we could, and experienced success our very "first time". 5 minutes later we all started laughing hysterically at each other--- it was truly a euphoric experience! In a sense, I felt a ‘life’ so unlike anything I've known. I was certain after the very first time that I had found something so incredible and “so me" and so perfect for my friends and I! For the next two years we would strategically plan our weekends just to get smashed! Everyone still signed my yearbook, but now the signatures included plans and contact information on just how we were going to meet this summer and PARTY BIG-TIME all summer long! We smoked every type of known pot and hash from every continent and soon we complimented this with alcohol. Then we shoulder-tapped every type of alcohol and this led to amphetimines. We swallowed and snorted every type of amphetimine, and this led to barbituates. We did barbituates, tranquilizers, qualudes, and acid. Then we would come to school on Mondays, put a huge pile of chewing tabacco in our lips, and debrief each other on what "trip" or combination of ‘trips’ we experienced last weekend. However, something wasn't right with all this. Life still sucked despite all these experiences. Why was it that each substance would wear off or leave me painfully empty? Why didn't it everything get old? Why did recovery from last night take soooooo long? Not only this but I was struggling with something else: I was starting to get real tired of living a secret life from my family and law enforcement authorities whom we found out soon enough were indeed tracking us. Also, I was getting tired my own conscience reminding me that my lifestyle was illegal.
I was arrested my sophomore year of High School in May 1980. It was the best thing that ever happened to me that year. Now my life was exposed to the world--- especially my world, school, etc. This brought a lot of pain and in response, I quickly abandoned the "life" I thought I'd found in the "party crowd". Two of my closest friends at the time attempted to beckon me back to that lifestyle: "Dave, come back... everything in moderation is fine man". I said "no". To date, one is in jail and the other is dead--- directly related to this very lifestyle.
Now I needed a new thing. So I decided to accomplish and "be the best" in everything that interest me. Being a competitive person, it seemed to make sense. For the next three years, I mastered or accomplished exceptional performance in the following: the high jumpat 6'6", the pole vault at 14", running a sub-6 mile, tennis, tournament waterskiing (30mph/22off/6boeys), barefoot waterskiing, kneeboarding, surfing, bicycling 100-mile treks, backpacking 30 mile expeditions, scaling three 14,000'+ peaks on my 1st try (Whitney, Shasta, & Ranier), building wood furniture, turning record-winning lathe-turn bowls, and rebuilding two high-performance VW motors. My philosophy was this: Instead of looking for life, just master it. Do your best and be the best... and you will have life. I included written out goals of everything I wanted to do before I die in accomplishments, education, experiences, and material wealth. All this was good until I slowed down long enough to think about my life.
The following questions kept coming back to me:
Spring of 1981... Not just a Religious Experience
In Spring of 1981, it happened. I began to discover the person of Jesus Christ. There were a number of things about this Person I discovered that I had little knowledge of despite a fairly frequent childhood upbringing of ‘church’. First, I found out that Jesus Christ claimed to be life itself... the very source and essence of life. Starting to read my Bible, I literally stumbled upon this statement of Christ: "I come that they might have life, and have it to the fullest". This statement bothered me at first because it seemed all to easy a solution to the questions I was facing. Naturally my response in defence included all the common objections people raise about Christ and the Bible, but I couldn't deny that maybe... just maybe... that life itself could be found in a personal relationship with the living God. After reading the Bible and wrestling with these questions for months, I found myself extremely attrated to the living Christ and I wanted a relationship with Him. As I read the Bible and prayed, “God” was speaking to my heart and beckoning me to come to Him. As subjective as it may sound, dude, it totally happened. On March 31st, 1981 I knelt down on my knees and trusted Christ to deliver the promise of that verse above. I prayed that the living Christ would come into my life... and give me real life... and He did! Since doing so, hundreds of things have changed for the better, but let me share about how he answered my questions:
1. I have a total motivation for living! I'm no longer asking, "What the _______ am I doing this for". Now I know. The motivation for what I do is more than just my own pleasure, it's also for the glory of God (or, to show God off). I was created for a purpose (answering my existence question) and designed for a specific purpose! Now, with every mountain I climb (and I've summited a lot of them) I'm in touch with the total reality of the experience. Not only do I enjoy the mountain and the high-alpine or sub-alpine adventure, I can literally worship the God who created all of it for my pleasure! This is what I call a full-on life experience! This is what I believe Jesus meant when he says, “life… to the fullest”. And this ‘life’ isn’t just because I love climbing--- because even that can get old. And it's not because I'm merely in touch with the physical, emotional, or mental side of climbing. See the greatest part--- the eternal dimension is now in operation--- my soul--- and it wasn’t before ! If people are indeed made up as "body, mind, and soul", then discovering the Author of my soul rendered me ‘full-on’ alive, not just 2/3rds. What can I say, MY SOUL IS ALIVE NOW and functioning in the truth and design of it's Creator! Ponder this for a moment... Life now doesn't just have existence, it has PURPOSE and design. It can be likened unto a Ferrari 308 GTS just parked (existing) or actually driving it 140 mph down the AutoBahn! Mountaineering also is just one example of such fullness and reality that will often prompt me to tears as I sink my ice axe into a 14,000+ summit and scream "God Rocks!" People now call me FullOnDave. Before Christ, I wasn’t functioning in the entirety of what God designed for me. Now I am!
2. I will live forever. Now before you write me off as a victim of psychological wishful thinking, stay with me moment and ponder this question: Was Jesus Christ crucified by Pontius Pilate, died and buried, and rose from the dead three days later? If this is not true, then the Bible states that Christians like myself are to be pitied above all men for having thought such an absurdity (Yes it really does say that: 1 Corinthians 15:12-19). But if it is true, then the resurrection of Jesus Christ validates all Christ's claims to be the actual Son of God who came to save the world from sin and salvation is found in no other Name. After much research, I believe this event actually happened and I've experienced the power of this event in my own life and witnessed it in the lives of literally thousands of others. Let’s look now at the words of Jesus Christ:
"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:38).
All this to say that my original question about death and how the truth regarding life for me has to deal with the sting of death. It’s been answered in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The soul is that eternal part of our identity created in the Image of God. It is created eternal and will exist accordingly in one of two ultimate destinys. This is why John 3:16 is the most popular verse in the entire Bible (and the NFL!) and why God will acknowledge us (or not) depending on our relationship with His Son Jesus Christ:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life"
Crazy? Yep. True? Yep. Because the death question is answered, I have peace. I didn't realize it at the time but before Christ, I did not have peace. Peace is the assurance of destiny. He who knows where he's going has peace. Before Christ, there was no assurance of anything. Lack of assurance regarding one's soul and destiny creates anxiety. Now I've got more than assurance, I've got peace. When I climb, I use the best harnesses, ropes, and 'pro' and it's saved my life at least once. The reason I have peace and can thoroughly enjoy the climb to the fullest is because I'm always anchored in. In the same sense, even if I fall off the top of a mountain and my rope breaks, I know exactly where I'm going and in Who's Arms I'll rest. My soul is anchored. Wishful thinking? I doubt it. I've experienced the anchoring of God in every area of my life--- especially when I've slipped (climbing, career, marriage, etc.). Wishful thinking has little if no reality. The anchor of God does... and it happens to be eternal in nature!
In summary, this is how Dave became FullOnDave.