The Stupid Gene

"What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?

Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.

The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes ever returning on its course.

All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full.

To the place the streams come from there they return again.

All things are wearisome, more than one can say.The eye never has its fill of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing."

Ecclesiastes 1:3-8

Ever notice that there are some people who excel and even make a living at doing things that others dare not attempt; Extreme sports junkies, dare-devils and the like. Science has known for a few years now that often, what causes certain people to do these kinds of things is actually a chemical imbalance in the brain. Supposedly it's caused by the presence of a certain gene that helps to surpress the normal function of the brain saying "hey genious, that's not a good idea!" The medical community has taken to calling it the 'dare-devil gene.'

I actually have a less cool, somewhat retarded mutation of this type of gene called the 'stupid gene.' This was made very clear to me the other day. I decided I was going to spend a couple of hours mountain biking north of Care Free in a place I had not been. Like many other rides, it had started out peaceful. The few people that I passed were were all smiles and greetings. The sun was on my back and the wind kept it a constant cool temperature. I enjoyed trying to ride throught the small stream that turned out to be about three feet deep and caused me to get soaking wet with ice-cold but welcome water. Things were turning out to be pretty wonderful. Until I turned down a little trail called Elephant Mountain.

Now I should have known that this was not a good idea when I wrecked three times going down the first decline into a ravine at the bottom. But my 'stupid-gene' is a prominent force when it comes to making decisions like this, so I continued on. It must have taken me an hour to travel about a half mile up a dry river bottom, which I was not entirely conviced was even still the trail. I was right, and eventually did find the trail again, only to be met with more steep-uphill, loose rocks, and needy cacti. It seemed that if I wasn't carrying my bike up an incline, I was sitting and picking cactus out of my body. At some point I remember thinking "I should turn back." But my stupid-gene debated this decision with that little voice of reason inside of my head (which sounds an awful lot like my wifes voice) and stupidity won. After miles of no sign of other bike tracks, uphill carrying, cactus filled shins, and absolutely no fun at all, I finally reached the top of Elephant Mountain.

Coming down Elephant Mountain was a feat in itself, honestly a little beyond my skill level on a mountain bike, but I eventually made it. There was a point at which though I figured I would not make it out before dark and end up spending the night for fear of losing the trail. At one time I figured "I am going to break something and have to get air lifted out." I literally thought I was gonna be the stupid guy they show on the news that gets fined and humiliated for being somewhere that he clearly had no business being!

What is it inside of me that causes the stupid gene to be the deciding member in decisions that, in my case, clearly could have hindered my ability to provide for my family, or worse.

In Ecclesiastes, the king finishes this small passage by saying "the eye never has its fill of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing." Basically noting that God has placed something inside of him that is not satisfied with where he is at. Whether its the need to go further down the trail on that bike, or the need to climb our way through promotion after promotion at work. Whether the need is to stay up late with our spouse trying to understand their point of veiw through our haze of selfish thoughts or simply to push ourselves past our limit to get that extra couple reps on the bench at the gym. Something inside of us silently screams out to push further and harder in this life.

I beleive it is the essence of life...

The very nature, the core of who we are.

One of the main reasons why God said of us that we are fashioned in His image...

I watch my 11 month old son try to walk, why? Is it because he wants to look cool? Is it because he understands that he will need to get that down first before he is able to jump and play? no...

I beleive there is something deeper hidden inside of his un-coordinated little legs, a desire to be like his dad... Yes, I do mean me, but more so, and more to the core of who we are, I mean our heavenly father.

Now I see that my Stupid Gene is not some kind of anomalie, mistakenly grown into my DNA by years of diminishing returns. Nor is it some kind of trigger mutation caused by the rBST hormones in the milk these days. It is an echo of a deeper meaning, a shadow of a stronger man, placed there long ago by a God longing to connect with his creation, wanting to share a peice of Himself with his children.

This desire does not have a goal other than moving forward. It is focused where you direct it. It truly illustrates that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." I can choose to waste my efforts and pursuits on furthering my agenda in this life, and end up as so many have; only to see that this life is too short to make a difference that way. Or I can push and force and fight for God's agenda, the plan that brings health, life, purpose, and direction to my family and myself, leaving a blessing for my children and their children and so on.

Lord, let me not surpress the things that you've put inside of me, rather let me use them wisely as to their original intent. To act, think, and love more like you.