My father taught me to ski when I was a young boy. I recall one of his first pieces of advice on the slope: "Remember, son, that more accidents happen in the final hour of the day than at any other time." I now know that he was correct.

Trying to get one more downhill run in before the ski tow closes, some skiers will rush down the slope forgetting that their bodies are tired and that their reflexes are no longer sharp. Shadows are long; icy and bare spots are hidden. The combination of a depleted body and obstacles not easily seen creates conditions (environments, if you please) in which accidents are far more likely to happen.

My dad was right; at the end of the day one should ski much more cautiously because the good skier knows himself and he doesn’t trust the terrain.

Many men and women trying to follow the Lord make their world-breaking choices in similar times of extreme fatigue. Again, not necessarily the physical fatigue after a long day’s work; but the fatigue of the spirit and the emotions that occurs after the lengthy period of time when frustration and difficulties have increased to an intense pitch.