The Guinness Book of Records calls him the world's greatest living explorer and not without some justification for Sir Ranulph Fiennes has been an outstanding individual during his life to date. Even his full name of Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is outstanding but that pales into insignificance compared to his feats of endurance and exploration which have made hi a household name throughout the world. He was the first man to reach both north and south poles over the surface and to cross the Antarctic on foot and from the early sixties he has been an intrepid traveller, leading expeditions along the Nile by hovercraft and on Norway's Jostedalsbreen Glacier and he was part of the Transglobe expedition for three years, journeying over fifty thousand miles around the surface of the earth. Then in the early nineties he discovered the lost city of Ubar in Oman. But I think his greatest feat to date was in 2003 when, along with Mike Stroud, he took part in the Land Rover 7x7x7 challenge and together they completed seven marathons in seven days on seven different continents covering such diverse destinations as Patagonia, Falkland Islands, Sydney, Singapore, London, Cairo and New York. However what made this achievement doubly special was the fact that Fiennes had suffered a heart attack four months previously and had undergone a double by pass operation. More recently he has taken to exploring upwards as he Decided to climb the Eiger in order to raise money for Marie Curie Children's cancer and this despite his terrible fear of heights. However it hasn't all been good news. In 2000 he made an attempt to walk to the North Pole without assistance but had to abandon his efforts when he suffered severe frostbite on his left hand while rescuing his sleds that had fallen through weak ice. On his return home he became impatient and in pain waiting for amputation surgery to his finger tips and so removed the offending digits himself with a saw! This had followed an earlier and successful attempt across Antarctica during which he and his comrade suffered frostbite and had to be rescued after completing their journey. As recently as 2005 he failed in his attempt to conquer Everest and only this morning had to abandon a further effort to climb the world's highest mountain as he hoped to be the oldest British person to do so and also raise a lot more money for charity. But even to get so close to the summit is an outstanding achievement in itself for a man on the verge of retirement age and suffering from vertigo, prostrate cancer and heart problems. So I salute his bravery, however foolish it may seem to some, his sense of adventure, his determination, but also his interest in others by his willingness to continue to raise money for worthy charities.
Fiennes is not alone in this world for being remembered for outstanding achievements. The names of Columbus and Magellan, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, Hillary and Tensing Norgay, Livingstone, Hudson, Lindbergh, the Wright brothers will forever be etched in our history because they possessed those same qualities in abundance. But away from such tales of adventure and exploration we also recall people like Dr Christian Barnard, Alexander Fleming, Edward Jenner, Louis Pasteur, Lord Lister and Marie Curie, whose outstanding pioneering work gave us all the opportunity of a greater quality of life. And I could go on, listing outstanding people in sport, music, business and every other sphere of life. But a word of caution. How many of these outstanding human achievements will God remember when we stand before Him.
The prophet Micah asks the question, 'With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God?' Jesus answers that question by saying 'I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.' I love that old hymn which says, 'Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.' And that's what He will remember, our faith in Him as our Saviour. Maybe that's something that is still outstanding in your life!
