From the Mountain Top
On the last day of February I climbed and stood atop of the mountain of snow that is in front of the Bird & Bear building. I asked a customer nearby on the sidewalk to take my photo, as I raised my arms and shouted at the top of my lungs “we made it!” It was a silly moment, but honestly it felt like a momentous moment of ascending out of the darkness & depths that have defined these last several weeks.
This is the ongoing story and journey of faith and braving the wilderness.
We chart a path. We set out with our backpack of essentials. We trek. We rest. We trek again.
Oftentimes the path markers are missing. We get lost.
The storms roll in and we must take cover. We realize we don’t have the right tools in our pack. The winds and the snow and the freezing cold are brutal. We get sick, and are too exhausted to get better.
The timelines are off and the resources are waning. We are lost, scared, lonely and accepting the reality may need to turn back.But we dig deep and find the faith to trek on.
We go. We trek. We rest. We trek again.
The storms pass and we can finally see the mountain top. We can see the path to get there. We glance back and remember what we’ve already trekked to get to this point. We believe we’ve got what it takes to go on.
We trek. We rest. We trek and finally ascend to the top of the mountain, that was less about the peak and more about the journey to get there.
We raise our hands and shout I made it!
As we look around the sun comes out and you can see it all ~ where you’ve come from and where you are going next. You meet others who have also journeyed to this mountaintop. You ask them to take your photo. You take theirs too.
You gather around a bonfire as you put down your packs. Together you unpack and take stock of what you have left and the you need. You share and decide to trek the next part of the journey together. They have what you need in their pack, and you have what they need in yours. You know you aren’t going to the same spot in the end, but you know it will be better to travel the next part together.
You trek. You rest. You trek on again and and again.