Matthew 5:17-30

Anyone remember the story of Aron Ralston?

I read his autobiography a few years back:  “Between a rock and a hard place”.  His story has also been made into a movie: 127 hours.

Aron’s a rock climber. He set himself the challenge to climb the 7 peaks of the world.  On his way to training for it back in April 2003, he decided to do some solo canyoning in the Utah desert in the USA.

He rode his mountain bike out to the start point, chained it up and started climbing the natural boulders unique to Utah desert landscapes (think the B grade westerns we watched as kids).  As he’s climbing over the boulder in a narrow canyon passage, to his horror he starts feeling one boulder moving, the boulder gains momentum, throwing him down the narrow gap, pinning his right arm against the narrow canyon wall.

Aron’s an experienced canyoner; he’s stuck fast.  He tried bracing himself against the rock, pushing on it, nothing gave.  He tried setting up a rope and pulley system.  It wouldn't budge.  It was clear there was no way this boulder was going to move without someone else’s helping.  He was in serious trouble with his arm trapped fast.  He tried chipping at the stone around his arm with his pocket knife.  Trouble was the stone was dense and hard. It needed a jack hammer not a pocket knife.  He was trapped.

For 6 days Aron lay in that canyon trying to figure a way out.  He only had a small amount of food and water which quickly went.  Nobody was within miles.  Pinned by the arm.