Blogging with Father John

Mountain Top Renewal

There is something beautiful, majestic and spiritually liberating being up in the Colorado, Rocky Mountains. There is a mystical and spiritual feeling of liberation, freedom and vibrancy. In that high altitude and thin air, one tends to lose and become unencumbered from life’s burdens that exist down below. They simply fall by the wayside the higher we climb, and are lost in the incredible array of beauty found in the vast, untouched and wild landscape. Overwhelming gratitude and a genuine sense of God’s presence  grows stronger, driving out the heaviness of life’s daily worries and challenges. The stress, anxiety, fear, doubt and depression that often haunt or lurk in our lives simply dissipate. Rather, in that incredible mountain space there is a renewal of hope, a brighter and clearer outlook on life and a since of freedom that can only be described as spiritually rich and profound.

Mountain top experiences are nothing new. Throughout the ages they have influenced and transformed the lives of many people, both figuratively and literally. On Mount Horeb during biblical times, the great prophet Elijah had a profound encounter with God that changed his spiritual life and outlook forever. Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai, is where Elijah learned how to listen and trust the voice of God that came to him in sheer silence. This divine encounter empowered his faith to such a degree that he overcame his fears, and with unencumbered zeal he descended back into the world to become the greatest Old Testament prophet ever known. He couldn’t stay on the mountain forever. He had to go back down into his world, a place full of spiritual draught, danger, hardship, fear, worry and pestilence. Yet Elijah left all of his fear, self-doubt and insecurity on top of that mountain, placing them in the freeing hand of God.

Can we imagine gaining that kind of trust in God? To trust in him enough to let go of our own fears, doubts and anxieties? To have the faith and willingness to place daily worries in God’s hand, and move forward with our lives unencumbered and unrestrained? On that mountain top where life is transforming, it’s easy for us to say yes. But do we have the spiritual fortitude to continue to trust God and the willingness to take our mountain top encounter down into the world? Can we leave the wreckage of our past on that mountain and allow God to use our very shortcomings to transfigure our lives, making them far more useful, healthy and vibrant than ever before?

In the high altitude of the Rocky’s where the sky is so blue that it is almost purple I found a sense of peace and joy that I had not felt in many a year. The autumn foliage contrasting against the white virgin snow, lakes, craggy rocks and evergreen trees only added to the beauty that my soul experienced. It moved my spirit deep within me. God’s presence was real and his beauty profound. There was a freedom and healing that made my heart beat in a soothing rhythm for the first time in a long while.  

While those images will remain with me forever, I still had to come back down into the world and walk back into my life. As soon as I strode out of the Atlanta airport I was hit by a wall of reality in the form of Georgia humidity. Yet like Elijah there is still with me that peace of God which passes all understanding that I found in the sheer silence of those incredible and beautiful mountains.  

We can’t run away or hide from the reality and problems in life. All we can do is take those occasional mountain top experiences and use them to boost our spirits in order to cope with the reality of who we are as people, and what kinds of challenges we will face in the world each day. Our mountains cannot become hideouts. We can’t stay there forever. Like Elijah, when we go up, we must inevitably descend. It is what we experience up there that we bring down with us, and hopefully leave behind our burdens and those things that cause our lives turmoil and unrest. God’s peace meets us on the mountain top, but it is up to us to carry it with us into the world below. There is a hymn, and its last verse ends with these lovely words,  “The peace of God it is no peace but strife cast in the sod, but brother pray for just one thing, the marvelous peace of God.”