I set off in the early morning at 3 am from Lake Chapala Mexico to start my expedition to Holland via Cancun. It started with a taxi ride with my dear friend Louis. He shared with me the importance of giving and kindness, this was something that his mother had been very conscious to share with him as well as to Love God fully. He told me it’s all God’s plan so no need to worry just give and be happy. At 3am in the morning, this conversation felt like the perfect way to start my trip, sharing the love of God, talking about kindness, and giving from the heart. Perfect!!!
The flights were smooth, very simple, and relaxing. I use these times as mini-retreats to meditate as much as I can and enjoy the ride in silence. Towards the end of the flight a movie court my eye about world-famous climber Alex Lowe. At first, I had this hesitation and skipped passed it looking at the other movies but it kept coming back to mind so I went back to it and began to watch. It turns out it is actually a documentary called “Torn” made by Alex Lowe’s son about his death.
Alex Lowe was the best climber in the world at the time and was sponsored by many companies to climb the most difficult mountains on the planet. He also had a young family too of 3 boys aged 3, 5, and 8 when he died. Toward the end of his life, Alex had started to become torn because he had so much energy for climbing and yet was very rarely home to see his family. On the trip in which he died from an avalanche, he shared with his best friend Conrad Anker that he now wanted to spend more time with the boys and wanted to listen to their needs as they had the desire to want to go to Disney land and he wanted to fulfill this new mission with them. But he was not able to do that. When the avalanche hit Alex and his cameraman went to the left and Conrad went to the right Conrad survived but Alex and the cameraman did not.
Conrad felt devastated that he had survived and for years wished it was him that died and not Alex. Conrad knowing that Alex wanted to take the boys to Disney land called Jennifer Alex’s wife and explained that he would like to take the boys to Disney land with her to fulfill Alex’s wish which she agreed. In these 3 months, Conrad and Jennifer fell in love and a year later Conrad took the boys on as his own. Conrad had spent more time with Alex than anyone and knew him better than anyone else so could share all the stories in great detail with boys about their father. This really touched me as very symbolic that the memory of the Father (God) is never lost and forever lives on. The documentary seemed very healing for the whole family as they were able to share the impact of the death of a father, a husband, and a best friend. It was extremely touching how honest they were with one another as they went through the footage of their father’s life including the day of his death.
As I watched I had emotions coming up and thought at times why am I watching this before I arrive in Holland I felt sad and cried several times. I was praying to Jesus what is the message in this for me. As the credits rolled that’s when it dawned on me, you can never lose the love or the memory of the Father (God). God is with me and will always be with me and there truly is never any loss.
My sadness turned to joy as I realized that the message of the movie and my trip is that God goes with me wherever I go. Wow, the perfect start to a 5-week tour in Holland. If God is with me who can be against me
Here is the trailer for the documentary I highly recommend it. I also recommend another documentary about Conrad Anker climbing the most difficult mountain in the world called “Meru”. Very impactful, inspiring and healing as you see the miracles that took place on that endeavor. Enjoy
