Paring Down the Monster

“Okay guys, this is Cheryl and Monster” – Greg
“Monster? Is that my pack?” – Cheryl

In the 2014 movie, “Wild”, Reese Witherspoon dons a massive backpack for her role as Cheryl Strayed, a broken, 20-something who leaves the world behind for over 3 months to hike the Pacific Coast Trail (the PCT) .

Alone.

The main character sells everything she owns, signs her divorce papers, then visits her mother’s grave before making her way from Minnesota to Mojave, California.

Her hope was transformation.

Although Cheryl left her past behind, she loaded everything but the kitchen sink into her backpack which became known by fellow hikers as “Monster”.

It lived up to it’s name.

Packing Monster for the first time Cheryl couldn’t stand up after snapping it onto her torso. It was that heavy. But she was a trooper and would not give up. She pulled herself up by her bootstraps (REIs to be specific) and began the trail.

About 100 miles into hiking the PCT Cheryl stopped at a popular camp. It was there that a fellow outdoorsman helped her pare down Monster.

He dumped everything out onto a picnic table. Then, piece by piece, reminding Cheryl that each would add weight, he asked very important questions:

Is this necessary?
How’s that working for you?
Can you live without this?

Although most of us aren’t hiking the PCT or lugging around a heavy backpack, we are carrying a lot of weight: items we can live without, things that are unnecessary, stuff that isn’t good for us.

• Unhealthy relationships.
• Pain we’ve experienced.
• Wounds that we’ve buried.
• Sins committed.
• Addiction.
• Fear.
• Confusion.
• Desolation.
• Anger.
• Pride.
• Hardened hearts.
• Hopelessness.
• Unforgiveness
• Avarice
• Self-loathing.

Shall I go on?

These are ‘Monsters’ of our own making; burdens God never meant for us to bear.

Sure, there are crosses crafted for each of us, but even those carefully chosen trials & tribulations were designed to be carried by two: ourselves and Jesus.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy, and My burden light.” Matthew 11:28-30

To think we can go it alone – as Cheryl did – is a concept born of pride. Which brings to light another consideration:

When your ‘stuff’ gets dumped from the pack, how do you know what to keep?

And, how will you know that you’ve actually emptied the entire pack?

Relationships, addictions, living situations, lifestyles, what you consume (from food to social media), etc… are you able to step back and objectively make a decision on whether or not to put ‘the thing’ back in the pack and continue to carry that burden?

Or, are you so attached to the ‘thing’ that you can’t see it for what it is.

Maybe the pack is deeper than you imagine and you can’t actually see the bottom. Could your eyes be deceived causing you to miss hidden layers?

If we hope for authentic spiritual transformation, we need a companion.

We need someone to help sift through our stuff, lighten our pack, carry our burden.

Monster is not invited.

Such a person must have a deep love for the Lord. They will be honest, reliable, faithful, and forthright. Someone able to help identify those things in our pack that unnecessarily weigh us down, keep us from healing, barriers to Christ. This person will have a strong prayer life, be devoted to truth, faithful to the teachings of the Magisterium, be an excellent listener, willing to challenge, and hold the person accountable.

When we find that person, our goal is to have a healthy and holy obedience trusting that the Holy Spirit is at the center.

The hiker must be willing to be authentic, vulnerable, and honest; ready to do the work no matter how hard.

Quite counter-cultural.

The world tells us we are strong enough to fix ourselves. We just need this book or that podcast, this conference or that master class, and we can rise above and be the best version of ourselves, living our best life. #goals

The Christian person’s paradigm is different.

We need a spiritual director to journey with us. Their job is to help us navigate, keep our compass set for true north, give us the tools to stay on track and encourage us when we start to veer of course.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux said it best:

“Anyone who takes himself for his own spiritual director is the disciple of a fool.”

Stop carrying all the weight that wasn’t intended for you. Find yourself a good spiritual director and dump your pack. As you work with your director to put the right stuff back in there is only one question you’ll need to ask:

Will this get me to heaven?

And, if you’re curious about “Monster” watch: Meet the 65lb Monster – https://youtu.be/_5E9QJEAsd4

Pray for me as I pray for you!

[Featured image, still: Wild Featurette – Reese Witherspoon in the Wild (2014) – Reese Witherspoon Movie HD. YouTube, uploaded by Movieclips Coming Soon, 5 Dec. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUPbJq9TRiQ.]

[DISCLAIMER: the movie “Wild” is rated “R”; several scenes are pornographic, and include foul language and drug abuse. My referencing the movie is NOT a recommendation for the reader to watch it. Instead, check out the video on Monster. It’s amazing what this gal carried for 3 months!]