http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-snow24-2010jan24,0,3324940.story
Needless to say, I am feeling very blessed to have been able to experience such a perfect day without many of the hassles that might have come along with it.
Reflecting in my journal about that day, I've come to realize that snowboarding is a definite passion of mine. It is a sport that can make me excited in a heartbeat, that gives me a sense of freedom, offers significant challenges, and is most importantly fun! Over the past 5 years of riding, I've come to appreciate the skill, opportunity, and challenge that it poses.
I also drew an analogy that, though probably corny, really spoke out to me.
Snowboarding poses many different challenges. When you first begin the sport, you struggle with getting off the lift, getting up from the ground without falling, balancing on the heal side, learning to leaf, and other basic skills. Soon, you master these skills and you're posed with the challenge of learning to carve. Upon mastering this, you feel like an entirely new world is opened up to you. You can then choose to try to master even greater skills such as carving moguls, carving in powder, jumps, rails, boxes, and the list goes on and on. At each stage, you are humbled repetitively by the sport and by the challenges that it poses. Yet, that is simply the beauty of snowboarding, that there are always new skills to learn and even greater challenges at all stages. Similarly, the beauty of the Christian life is that there are always new challenges. Though often, they seem unnecessary and we ask God why these challenges are there, they are the things that keep us grounded. Each new challenge prepares us for an even bigger challenge later in life and ultimately leads us to godliness and sanctification.
A second observation is in the actual action of snowboarding. For myself, the most exhilarating part of snowboarding is when I am zigzagging down a powder-filled run. In my opinion, there is no feeling like that of the chilly wind blowing in your face as you cut through soft powder with nature passing you by at 20 miles per hour. I have never heard of a snowboarder who got onto their board, strapped on their bindings and simply stood there saying how great it is to be snowboarding. Likewise, I think that I have too often done exactly that as a Christian. I've geared myself up, looking all snazzy with the latest gear, and have simply stood there. Just as a snowboarder must move in order to be snowboarding, a Christian must move in order to be a Christian.
I have two more observations. Powder is something that I absolutely love. It just makes snowboarding all the more enjoyable. However, more often than not, I experience less than ideal conditions for snowboarding. Ice, slush, and machine made snow are all conditions that snowboarders do not enjoy. However as a sign at snow summit so reminded me, "man made snow is still real snow, it's just man made." In my life, I feel that too often, I simply want the ideal conditions: Powder and nothing else. Yet, most of my snowboarding, especially living in southern California, is done in these less than ideal conditions. But I still love the sport regardless. The Christian life is not always ideal. It is more often less than ideal. In snowboarding, you board regardless of the conditions that day: you adjust. Yet why in the christian life is it so easy to change how we live our lives based on our conditions.
Lastly, snowboarding is a privilege. However you look at it, there are so many people that do not have the pleasure of enjoying this sport. Whether they are enjoying other winter sports, or they have just not had the opportunity to board, it is still a relatively small amount of people that have experienced it. Because snowboarding is my passion, I get very excited when someone is going for their first time. I am committed to teaching them and making sure that they know why I am so passionate about boarding. On our way down, we passed hundreds of cars that were stuck behind closed highways and could not make it up to the slopes. Though we had a good laugh at their plight, it reminded me that not everyone has the privilege of hearing the gospel. Not all have experienced the joy, freedom, and exhilaration of knowing Jesus Christ. This is my first passion, or so I claim. So I need to challenge myself to live out this passion, to share with those that don't know the gospel, and to live in a way that imitates Christ and makes being a Christian attractive.
That was a bit long. But I leave with a picture that I took of the snow on saturday. I'm sad that I forgot to take any on the mountain, but oh well, that's what memories are for.
Sam Kim
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