Transparent Christian Magazine

In May of 1989 I was 17, and holding on to the last ounce of my relatively non-complicated life. My summer consisted of working at Glenn’s Market, and hanging out with friends. I had a handful of great buddies like Brian LaRosa who worked nights stocking shelves. He would call me once in awhile on a Friday and say, “I have tonight off, but I work third shift tomorrow. Do you want to hang out while I try to stay up all night?” We would go for a drive, rent movies, chill with our friends, listen to albums (the flat black and circular kind) and play euchre, poker or Atari (yes Atari) until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. You make your own fun when you live in Mio, Michigan. The closest large city is 2 hours away however we never lacked for things to do!

My best friend Tennis lived with his family and they had a barn on their remote property, where we spent lots of time. To a kid, a barn is like a large tree fort without the tree! There was his 1980 Candy Apple Red Chevy Silverado pickup with a lift-kit (to make it high off the ground) and white wagon wheel tires. He had beefed up the engine, and there was usually a problem that needed fixing. I would smile and nod and hand him the tools. His family owned snowmobiles for the snowy winters, and a four wheeler for the fall. He had a couple of Honda motorcycles, (scooters really) that could easily eat up a whole day if given the chance.

One evening, after tinkering on his Chevy, he decided to call it a night. We began the 60 yard trek back to his house when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. It was dusk but I could clearly make out the silhouette of a black bear standing on 2 legs, walking toward me and growling. My legs instinctively sprang to action as I ran for my dang life towards their house. I started screaming “Tennis!!” “Tennis!!” and running…and screaming…and running. I realized when I got about 30 yards from the nearest entrance, I was going to die. They had a sliding glass door and I knew I wouldn’t be able to open it before the bear ripped my legs off and ate me.

The next thing I realized was that my friend was not next to me. Tennis competed in track, was skinny as a rail and was the quickest guy on our state championship high school basketball team. There’s an old joke that goes something like—If you and your buddy are in the woods and being chased by a bear, you don’t have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun your buddy! The point is there was NO WAY I could be ahead of Tennis in this or any other scenario. So I stopped and slowly turned my trembling body around…

And saw Tennis standing 15 yards behind me laughing, hysterically and his father Hank standing next to him… in a full, black bear suit…The head piece was removed and tucked neatly under Hank’s arm. Tennis was now doubled over with laughter and his father Hank had a look of joyful bewilderment on his face.

Apparently they had run this prank on all of Tennis’s friends. One of them had peed himself and ran into the woods. I am SURE that the only way they were able to keep it a secret was that the prank-ee wanted to hear what the NEXT guy did when confronted with the same circumstance. Hank told me later that his original idea was to grab me, and he was running as fast as he could…but could NOT catch me!

I appreciate a great gag, and this certainly ranked high in my book. Strangely though, after telling the story to my mother, she didn’t seem to see the humor!!!

There have been many times in my life since, that I’ve been ‘chased by the black bear of fear’. The fear was real, and I was sure I would meet my ‘doom’. Sometimes it’s a financial situation, or maybe an upset friend. Sometimes it’s a looming deadline or a close call in traffic…sometimes health situations or job loss. In the book of John, Jesus tells us “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27 (NIV)

What is your black bear? What’s chasing you? Is it time to see your fear with the mask off?

Love you,
Jason
Jason@TransparentYou.com
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