So, my step son got himself into some trouble this last year. He has always been a little difficult, will argue with a rock and is very hard headed. To go along with these attributes he started messing with drugs and our difficult teenager turned into a complete stranger who seemed to despise anyone who got in his way of living his life the way he wanted. It’s been very difficult for my husband, especially since Hunter decided back in Novemeber that he didn’t want to live with us anymore and only his mother. We had almost given up when Hunter was expelled from school for selling drugs and he pretty much didn’t have a choice other than rehab or boot camp. That’s when Brandon and Stephanie discovered the Anasazi Foundation.
Hunter left the beginning of March and my husband was a complete wreck until he got Hunter’s first letter and talked to, what they call his shadow. His first letter was completely positive and we were shocked that he had adjusted as quickly as he had. We wrote letters to him every week and he replied and every week I was pleasantly surprised by how good his attitude was about the whole thing. I guess I should tell you what the Anasazi Foundation is…
They take troubled teenagers and place them in the mountains and they hike everyday to their next destination, start their own fires, sleep on the ground and cook their own food, which is very limited. Hunter’s favorite thing up there was Tang, something so simple that I don’t think he would have even tried here. Hunter has always been extremely neat, showered 3 times a day, could not stand kissing his little brothers and sisters because of germs and was just a very particular child.
When my husband and his ex-wife went to spend 3 days in the wild with him and bring him home they found a kid that drank disgusting water out of stagnant ponds of water, ate bugs and food off the ground and hadn’t showered for 6 weeks. The most amazing thing was that he didn’t care. He felt like a bad ass when he learned how to make his own fire and was proud to show his parents what he had learned and where he had spent the last 6 weeks of his life. Brandon found Hunter a very peaceful child which we cannot remember the last time that Hunter was at peace.
Before Brandon left to go pick up Hunter he asked me if I would read the Anatamy of Peace, which explained what Hunter and the kids in this ‘band’ were learning.
An intriguing story that illustrates how we blame others for problems we ourselves have created. In other words, how our hearts are at war most of the time.
I enjoyed how the authors delivered their message in story form – it made the lessons more accessible and applicable. I took notes, and here are a couple of good passages:
“Most [people] who are trying to put an end to injustice only think of the injustices they believe themselves have suffered. Which means that they are concerned not really with injustice but with themselves. They hide their focus on themselves behind the righteousness of their outward cause.”
“When I see others as objects, I dwell on the injustices I have suffered in order to justify myself, keeping my mistreatment’s and suffering alive within me. When I see others as people [or human], then I free myself from the need for justification. I am free to leave the worst behind me.”
“No one, whatever their actions, can deprive me of the ability to choose my own way of being. Difficult people are nevertheless people, and it always remains in my power to see them that way.”
I read it before they came home and understood a lot of what the authors were saying as far as letting things go to become a happier person.
Then Hunter came home and we went out to dinner with my in-laws, Hunter and his mom. I couldn’t believe the kid who had come home. He had a presence to him that was so magnetic that I was drawn to him, wanted to be right next to him.
Brandon asked me to read another book that was very small that they had given him on the trail. The Seven Paths of the Anasazi Way. It was a quick read but made so much sense and honestly made me want to give up all the material things and live as one with nature, the way God had intended. Just the first page struck me so hard…
In my walking, I have seen many days of the earth – from the days of dust and simple villages to the days of concrete and gleaming cities.
For reasons unknown to me, I have been allowed to remain and witness the deeds of man.
I have observed revolutions in science, medicine, and technology.
I have watched as man, once bound to the earth, has launched himself toward the stars.
I have seen what I never could have imagined and what my people never could have dreamed.
Man has become impressive indeed.
But young friend, of all the days I have witnessed, today – your day – is the most unhappy.
I see it in the faces I meet on sidewalks and in the voices I hear in your cities.
Mother Earth has never been more crowded, yet her inhabitants have never been more lonely.
Look around and see what I mean.
You live in the age of “I,” Man looks out for himself, and only secondarily for others. In the philosophy of your day, happiness is a product of the fulfillment of personal “needs.”
Man’s obsession with his own needs is taking him further from those without whom happiness cannot be found.
It is taking him from his people.
It is so true that we have gotten so far away from the simple things that God gave us and we wonder why it is so hard to be happy.
My favorite quote in the book is so simple but tells you how to live life as it was meant to be lived..
“Look for light
Listen for inspiration on the wind
Let water cleanse your soul
Set yourself on a firm foundation
Serve as the plants
Do not offend your fellow creatures
Live in harmony with all creations”—Anasazi Foundation
How simple…it all makes sense…the way God intended.
As Brandon said, ‘I sent them a boy and they sent me home a man’
I pray that real life won’t take away the sense of peace that he has discovered since all of this and appreciate his grandma and grandpa on his mom’s side for having the means and desire to help Hunter in this way.
