Where do we put our Trust?

I recently came across an article that described the circumstances that lead three novice mountaineers to need rescuing after being lost on a mountain for much longer than they had planned.

The title of the article said "Three Mount Shasta climbers rescued after relying on AI to plan climb". As I read the article, I was surprised at the number of parables encapsulated in this story (in which all three climbers were rescued safely).

My initial thought, just from the title of the article, was of the tower of Babel and Psalm 24 "who shall ascend to the mountain of the Lord?... He that hath clean hands and a pure heart". There is but one way to God, and it is not by a tower, nor is it through any technological advancement of man, no matter how artificially intelligent.

The next parable in the article is one we're all very familiar with. While one climber had used AllTrails to navigate the ascent, the battery died on the way back down. In our day, advice to carry extra battery or a charger would translate to the Savior's day as a warning to bring enough oil for your lamp.

What happened next caused one climber to stumble and hurt his knee. While he had a headlamp, he decided not to use it and instead rely on the light from the other two climbers' headlamps. No matter how bright the testimonies of those around us, we must each develop our own faith and trust in the Lord. He will light our path, but we will only be able to take the right steps if we trust Him.

To add to the parable of preparedness, the climbers were forced to spend the night on the mountain without enough food, water, warm clothing or emergency shelter supplies. Luckily, at this point -cold, thirsty, hungry, and scared - they called 911 for help.

This may be the most important parable of all. No matter how lost we are, no matter the circumstances that led to our distressed state, we can always call upon our Redeemer and He will rescue us.

“We relied too much on AI rather than our own critical thinking,” the group told rangers.

For our purposes, and the final parable, I would change that to "we trusted too much in something else rather than trusting in our God".