If you die, we split your gear

Until some major life event draws near (a house move, a death, perhaps a separation) it is hard for one to realize just how much stuff one has accumulated around one's existence.  Much of it has brought joy or has enabled joyful experiences, but as the end draws near one wonders:  what next for this stuff? How can it continue to bring joy to others? How can we avoid it becoming simply a burden, a nuisance, until - stripped of meaning - it just ends up as someone's waste?

This question has weighed on me in regard to several groups of things.  What of my books? What of my rock-climbing gear? What of the surplus air-miles in my travel account? And I've been working on trying to share them in a joy-bringing way. The air miles, for instance, went to bring three working pastors (who could not otherwise have afforded the travel) to the Reformation Project conference in Chicago this weekend. And as for the climbing gear - Well, I had a bright idea to share it with my friends at Seneca Rocks Mountain Guides.  I've enjoyed their comradeship and encouragement almost since my first visit to Seneca, in October 1998.  And Seneca has become one of the special places in my life, a "thin place", a window into joy.  What better than to give back?  Well, as I said, I had an idea.  I shared it with Diane Kearns, one of the co-owners of SRMG and someone who's been a friend to me and to my family.  She took it and ran with it a bit.  The above little video is the result.  I hope you enjoy it!