One of the Worst Times of Being Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
After several years, I finally got around to watching 127 Hours. Wow, what a film.
This biographical survival drama depicts the real-life ordeal of mountaineer Aron Ralston. Ralston’s epic survival story has inspired many. In 2003 he ventured down a deep canyon in Utah’s BlueJohn Canyon and found himself trapped after an 800-pound boulder fell and crushed his right arm. With his arm fully wedged under the rock’s weight, Ralston endured for five days before finally freeing himself by amputating his right arm.
The filming locations in Utah help to recapture Ralston’s real-life experiences. Matched with James Franco’s poignant portrayal of the real-life hero Ralston, the film allows viewers to feel like they are there with Ralston as he lays injured and isolated from the world for five days.
This is gold star material. Scenes show Franco’s Ralston scaling up, down, and through the canyon’s walls and feeling the rocks with his hands. When the boulder crashes down on Ralston, viewers will wince as they see the pain and disarray in Ralston’s every moan and shake. Then, there are the subtleties like the ant crawling on the pocket knife Ralston drops or Ralston’s watch showing time’s passing at sporadic paces.
Like so many related stories, innumerable lessons and insights can be gathered from Ralston’s story. Today, Ralston is indeed a motivational speaker(as well as an unstoppable outdoorsman and mountaineer still). In one recorded speech, he alludes to the massive boulders we all must face in our journey. Rather than burdens, are there blessings hidden within these boulders? Ralston describes how he realized he could use the boulder to break the bone in his arm. Once his arm was broken, he completed the unthinkable fit of amputating his arm to break free.
Aside from the unimaginable story of profound injury, isolation, nearly fatal outcomes, and a self-performed life-saving amputation, one particular moment from the film stuck out for me.
One morning when the sun rose, its rays shone through many of the canyon’s twists, curves, and depths. With his right arm still cemented under the boulder, Ralston removed his socks and stretched out his bare foot to soak in the heat. The heat then warmed his hands, face, and being. It was as though for a moment he was completely free from the dark pits trapping him and light and warmth were already renewed him.
There were times in my life when I certainly felt the dark storms I was facing were like a nightmare I could not awake from. In fact, sleep became one escape from the nightmare my waking state had become. I have heard others testify of similar experiences.
Yet even in those darkest of nightmares, light still shines through the enveloping clouds. Sometimes, the darkness seems so overwhelming from our viewpoint that we may be tempted to give up. However, the numinous light shining from what is divine and ever wondrous at the heart of things will renew and strengthen us. Some situations require unimaginable strength, courage, and perseverance to make it through. This often starts with just pointing our limbs and frames to the light.
