by Eric D. Johnson

Created on: January 12, 2008

Look Out Below!

What little I know about geology I learned by watching westerns on television. It seems like the bad guys were always hiding in the hills, waiting for the hero to ride along a rocky hillside where the villains would cause an avalanche, showering the hero with rocks and boulders in a vain attempt to keep him from riding to the rescue. I learned that while mountains seem like sturdy barriers, it only takes one stick of dynamite to send large parts of a mountain down onto someone's head. Mountains, at least according to the black and white television westerns that informed my youth, are pretty fragile things. Luckily for the hero, there is normally a faithful dog or horse, with a keen sense of smell, who could nose through the rubble and lead to the hero's rescue.

There are periods in our lives when we share empathy with that hero in the TV western. We ride along the trail, not necessarily to anyone's rescue; generally we are just minding our own business. Most of us are pretty cautious about mountains and villains and stuff like that because very few of us can lay claim to a horse or a dog cunning enough to dig us out of trouble. So we ride along through life secure in the knowledge that if we ride slowly enough noting bad will happen. Then, quite unexpectedly, a series of events rains down on us as though they were giant boulders meant for our destruction. Life, like a mountain, may seem solid and stable, but it only takes one little shove to set in motion a set of minor catastrophes that will leave us feeling buried.

Personal avalanches are rarely preceded by an explosion, nor are they generally caused by villains. A personal avalanche can start quietly in the mail or be delivered by a calm voice over the telephone. Take for example a business associate of mine who arrived home from a successful business trip on April 15th. The accountant who prepared his tax returns and had sent the forms to his home for is signature and so that he could mail them ahead of the deadline. He ripped open the package only to find that he owed the government over $4,000. As he drove to the post office with his reluctantly written checks made out to Uncle Sam, his cell phone announced a call from his supervisor. "I hate to call you just after you've gotten off the plane", Mr. Supervisor began, "but there is no good time for this kind of news. Our client has decided to cancel the project. I need you to take two weeks off without pay."

No one yelled, "Look out below!",

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