Becoming the Marlboro Man

This is the year I become a real man. Or at least start the process. By "real man" I mean that I become the great outdoorsman. I will be the Marlboro Man (without the cigarette of course!). I will be able to head out into the woods for an indefinite period of time and survive because of my great hunting and wilderness skills. It's a goal that deep down, every man strives for. We all want to be the Marlboro Man.

Because I have lived the easy life for so long where the only hunting I've had to do for my food is to figure out which aisle it's on, my goal is probably quite a ways off. I figured I'd start by equipping myself with everything I'll need. I'm going to start by learning some camping skills. My boys are in Cub Scouts now, so I have to stay ahead of the curve. If you had looked at the presents under our tree this past Christmas, you would have noticed two distinct themes - laser stuff of one sort or another and camping stuff.

I've almost got all the important big equipment I need. The missing piece is something to put it all in. How will I haul it around? As I am wandering through the wilderness, how will I get all of my man-gear where I need it to be? The answer is a backpack. I've been shopping for backpacks. I never realized that buying a backpack could be so complicated. There are all types and styles of backpacks. The biggest hurdle for me is my torso. Eighty percent of my height is in my torso. Of my 6'2" of height, approximately 5 feet is my torso. Yes, I'm really ill-proportioned. And in my shopping, I've discovered that finding a pack for a circus freak like myself is really difficult. At least to stay within my limited budget it is.

So what do you? First I had to purge myself of the dream of looking like the Marlboro Man, trudging up the mountain in that really cool looking pack with all the gear strapped on the outside to see, setting up his really cool looking campsite that looks like it came straight out of scene from Rawhide. As I've done some research, I've discovered that you really don't need a backpack that will hold 300 cubic feet of storage. A lot of the little gadgets that are designed for camping, etc. are really just extra weight you have to haul around and then later wish you did not bring along. The budget thing is still an obstacle though. It's amazing what a backpack costs. And if I admit it to myself, how uncomfortable am I really willing to be? I keep asking myself, "What would the Marlboro Man take along?"

This journey to become more like the Marlboro Man can be compared to our faith journeys to become more like Christ. There are so many questions. How do we get started? Where can we get our answers? Is the goal too high and lofty, more of an ideal than something we will ever really achieve? Will I find that this journey really doesn't fit me, at least the way it seems to fit everyone else? What things do I really need to get me along on this journey to Christlikeness? Is the cost too great to pursue? How uncomfortable am I willing to become on my journey?

These questions need and deserve answers. Maybe in the next few weeks we can answer some of them together. I'd like to know what you think. I'd like to know what questions you think need to be answered. Let me know. Until then, I need to go buy some more flannel shirts.

Just a thought.