ASKING FOR IT

Topics: Comfort; Complaining; Convenience; Hardship; Laziness; Suffering

References: 2 Timothy 2:3; Hebrews 6:11–15

Comment cards given to the staff members at Bridger Wilderness Area in Wyoming in 1996 included the following:

•     Trails need to be wider so people can walk while holding hands.

•     Trails need to be reconstructed. Please avoid building trails that go uphill.

•     Too many bugs and leeches and spiders and spiderwebs. Please spray the wilderness to rid the areas of these pests.

•     Please pave the trails so they can be snowplowed during the winter.

•     Chairlifts need to be in some places so that we can get to wonderful views without having to hike to them.

•     The coyotes made too much noise last night and kept me awake. Please eradicate these annoying animals.

•     A small deer came into my camp and stole my jar of pickles. Is there a way I can get reimbursed?

•     Reflectors need to be placed on trees every fifty feet so people can hike at night with flashlights.

•     Escalators would help on steep uphill sections.

•     A McDonald’s would be nice at the trailhead.

•     The places where trails do not exist are not well marked.

•     Too many rocks in the mountains.

—Mike Neifert, Light and Life (February 1997)