When Taking a Risk is the Only Way to Be Safe by Guest Blogger Rebekah Bronn

“Mum, Mum!” six-year-old Michael was bouncing up and down on his chair at the dinner table in excitement. “Max is on the radio!”

His mum, Gwenda Johnson, stared at the little radio that sat on the sideboard. Her mouth hung open in shock, and her fork was suspended in mid-air as a voice announced that her sixteen-year-old son was the first person to climb the three central mountains in the North Island of New Zealand.

Gwenda shook her head, half in disbelief and half in despair. What was she going to do with this son of hers? The natural caution that most people are born with just didn’t seem to be a part of her boy’s DNA. This mountain climbing feat was not the first time Max had taken huge risks and she was sure that it wouldn’t be the last. But what could she do? It was just who he was.

My Greatgrandmother Gwenda had a right to feel worried about some of the downright hair-raising exploits of my eccentric Great Uncle, her son Max. Like the time he barely survived an avalanche at the top of New Zealand’s highest mountain, or when he parachuted in the North Pole with a special military expedition—not to mention his encounter with a great white shark!

According to Psychology Today, some people are born with the drive to push the boundaries and experience the thrill that comes when looking danger directly in the face. The article explains that these risk-takers, “have a distinctive personality makeup that is the product of both genes and experience.” Such people can be reckless and sometimes a menace to society with their endless need for thrills. At the extreme, their lack of fear in the face of danger can be apparent in a destructive way. And yet, the article goes on to say, “regardless of this they personify—perhaps magnify is more precise—a human trait that is very much responsible for our survival as a species.”

In other words, taking risks isn’t always a good thing, but it is sometimes necessary. Think about it like this. Without the Uncle Maxes and risk-takers of the world, there would be no new lands discovered, no risky but lifesaving medical procedures perfected, and no mountains summited. Risk-taking is an important path to growth for the human race and I believe that it is also an important part of personal growth. 

 “The comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.” -Unknown

Haven’t you found that to be true? Who wants to leave their comfort zone—after all, it’s comfortable! 

Frankly, leaving my comfort zone goes against my nature. I have to ask myself, what is it that would push me to take risks in order to grow? What risks are worth taking? 

Have you ever asked yourself that? Maybe you have when it comes to your career or dating or marriage or even trying a new hobby. But have you ever considered what risks are worth taking when it comes to spiritual life and health? How willing would you be to question your fundamental beliefs about something you’ve automatically accepted as true? Could you face the risk of being wrong?

For many Jewish people, it would mean taking a great risk to truly explore who Jesus is. Some of us don’t know that he claimed to be the way to have life and peace with God, others may have a vague sense that he said that, without knowing why. It is easy to assume that we don’t need Jesus if there’s a shared sense within our community that he is not for us. 

If we question that assumption, we could be faced with countless consequences depending on our conclusions. Yet if we truly cared about our spiritual life and health, we would realize that no matter how “comfortable” our comfort zone is, it is not safe to stay there. Is it possible that we could be missing something that we actually need for spiritual life and health? If so, it’s reasonable that such a possibility would spur us on to step out of our comfort zone and really test our beliefs. 

I personally believe that when a risk is the only way to discover what we need to know, then that risk is not only worth taking, but it’s the safest possible option. 

Perhaps you are ready to take a risk today and explore who Messianic Jews believe Jesus is? Is it possible that there are good reasons to believe he is the Messiah and the key to spiritual life and health?

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have...It’s worth the risk!

THIS BLOG WAS GUEST WRITTEN BY REBEKAH BRONN from NEW ZEALAND

Hunt for the Wilderpeople: The movie, a review, and some thoughts

Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) is a defiant 12-year-old city kid who finds himself on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle Hec (Sam Neill) in the million-hectare New Zealand bush outside Hec's place. A national Kiwi manhunt follows, and the two are forced to put aside their differences and work together to survive in this very funny and heartfelt adventure.

I laughed out loud more times than I can remember in recent years in a movie theatre. Apologies to the folks at the Randwick Ritz on Sunday arvo. This buddy movie was at times "Thelma and Louise" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and at other times it was Bing Crosby and Bob Hope on the road to Singapore. The one-liners were precious; the timing was impeccable; the scenery stunning. I liked it all. No wonder Rotten Tomatoes gave this a 100 rating.

Murray from Flight of the Concords (Rhys Darby), who has been in much more since 2009 when that Kiwi series finished, plays a wild bushman flawlessly. He is not alone in flawless role-playing. In fact the entire cast is so full of caricatures it's super-predictable. But that doesn't diminish the effect any more than our knowing Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner are going to have different results at the painted cave. In fact, perhaps it's the predictability of the uncle and kid in their mis-adventures, the trio of bounty hunters, the mad Child Services Worker, Paula (Rachel House) and her offsider, each person in the cast is cartoon-like, and yet believable, that makes this such a good movie.

My favourite of course, was Aunty (Rima Te Wiata) whose lines to Ricky, and her birthday song to him (apparently written on the spot as required) endear her to everyone in the cinema.

Odd things. The credits include sections headed "Wildercrew" and "Wildercast", with the latter including the subheading "Wilderdogs". I have no idea what that all means. A very fun trivia note: The Toyota that Hec and Ricky use to escape from Psycho Sam's hideout is called Crumpy, in reference to Barry Crump, the author of the book on which the screenplay was based. An identical vehicle was driven by Crump in a long-running series of Toyota commercials in New Zealand, where Barry played a bushman taking a city slicker named Scotty for a drive through the bush. Scotty was played by Lloyd Scott, who appears in this film as "Tourist". Some fun connections with Kiwi tv-cinema history.

No spoiler, no spoiler alert. It's a classic buddy movie with great lines, fantastic scenery, and painful ties between the two protagonists. You will enjoy this no matter who you are, or from what country you come. A good laugh, even at predictable pacing, will be worth your while. Let me know what you think after you see it.