The Mountain

You are standing close to the crest of a mountain. You have just emerged from the tree line and are standing about halfway between it and the summit. If you turn, with your back to the crest, you can see clear back to the horizon to where your journey began. Your whole life lies before you like a panorama. You can see the place where you gave your heart to the Lord. That place has great emotion associated with it and is probably your favorite. You can barely make out the trail as it originates there and winds around the flatlands before beginning the slight rise which becomes a steady uphill climb toward the summit where you are now standing. You recall, even after all these years, all the times you stood and gazed at the faraway peak. You wondered what it would be like to stand there above the tree line, so close to the summit, imagining how it would feel to walk those last few hundred yards to the top and be able to see what was on the other side. Now, after all these years, you are finally standing there. The summit is so near. As you continue to survey the scene below, you also see the trail as it disappears down into the many valleys along the way. Some of those valleys were very deep as you recall; some so deep that it seemed the sun failed to shine in their deepest recesses. Others were obscured by dark clouds, however, while others seemed to be deep at the time, you can now see that they were but mere depressions in the landscape.

You can also see the clearings that you walked through on your journey. There the going seemed to be very easy where you rested from your strenuous climb out of the valleys and took time to lay down in the meadows and by the brooks and enjoy a brief respite. It was in those times that the Lord came to speak to you and comfort you. There He revealed to you the necessity for your last valley and assured you that you were never alone. It was in those peaceful meadows that you rested, drew strength, and then arose to continue your journey.

As you continue to take in the panorama of your life below you, you can see the trail as it traverses several smaller mountaintops. You recollect that each time you climbed to the top of a smaller mountain you thought, just for an instant, that it was the mountain on which you now stand. You remember that for a time you enjoyed the exhilaration of being on those mountaintops only to suddenly look upward to see that the mountaintop which was really your destination was still high above you, holding captive the faraway horizon. You recall that each time the exhilaration was replaced by the realization that your journey wasn’t yet over, and you would continue toward the horizon.

Now you stand between the tree line and the crest of that mountain, the one that captured your imagination, the one that held captive your aspirations and dreams. You slowly turn your back to the past and turn toward the peak before you. Between you and the top of the mountain is only a grassy, rock strewn landscape. No trees grow here, no more valleys to descend. Here the trail is very faint. Very few have climbed this far. Few have gone before you. Another thirty minute climb and you will stand on the summit; you will have arrived at your life’s destination. You remind yourself that this is why you began that climb those many years ago.

You begin the final leg of your climb when suddenly the wind begins to blow. At first you are refreshed by the breeze after your strenuous climb, but then ominous storm clouds begin to seemingly move in from nowhere. What happened? Just a minute ago, the sky was clear and sunny. Before, you could make out every detail of the craggy horizon, but now you can hardly see it. It begins to rain. The air is electrified by intense lightning, and the ground vibrates as a result of the incredible thunderclaps. The footing becomes treacherous as the rain saturates the ground and becomes torrents rushing down the steep grade. What before seemed like a short climb to the top now seems impossible, but you haven’t come this close to your goal to be turned back now. You redouble your efforts and attack the incline. The storm that before was intense now becomes intolerable. You have in your entire journey never encountered anything like this. Even the deepest, darkest valleys were never this terrifying. Your strength gradually ebbs. For the past several minutes you have been reduced to crawling forward on all fours. You must stop to rest for a minute and catch your breath, sitting with your back to the slanting rain, massaging your muddy hands and scraped knees. You consider that the trees below would provide a safe haven from the storm. The tempest doesn’t seem so intense there, and you feel the trees would provide some shelter from the storm. Your muscles ache with the strain of the climb, and you turn to look again toward the top of the mountain, now closer than ever before. You have made a little progress, but the incline appears even steeper than before. Turning back to the tree line, your whole being wants to rise and take the easier, downhill path to the refuge of the trees.

Just as you place your hand on the ground behind you to lift yourself up and head toward the trees, you feel the ground begin to vibrate. Simultaneously, the entire universe seems to be illuminated by the brightest lightning bolts you have ever seen. Immediately behind these comes a thunderbolt so powerful and loud that you feel your body lifted off the ground. You turn involuntarily toward the source which seems to be somewhere on the other side of the summit. Your mind rushes back to the time when God visited Sinai. What before seemed like an extreme storm now dims in comparison to what is taking place before you. The previous lightning flashes and rolls of thunder originated within the storm itself, but these newer, more intense ones seem to be coming from beyond the horizon, from the other side of the mountaintop. They are so severe that they drown out the others. God seems to be angry that you would consider turning back.

You are terrified! Between you and the summit appears certain destruction, but each time you turn to look back at the inviting tree line, you are filled with an overcoming feeling of foreboding and failure. Why does the decision have to be so heartrending? You want more than ever before to finish your climb, but why does it have to be today? Why can’t you rest for awhile among the safety of the trees and try again tomorrow or next week when you will have more strength? But there is something inside you that tells you that if you retreat to the safety of the trees, there will never be another chance. If you are going to the top of the mountain, you must go now.

You hesitate again, pausing to look once again toward the horizon above you. The thunder rolls and the entire sky is set aflame by the lightning bolts. It appears like all heaven and hell are at war between you and the top of the mountain. After one last glance backward, you make up your mind. You only have one life, and that life won’t be worth living if you give up this opportunity to reach for your ultimate goal. You think you might very well die in the next few minutes, but at least you will die knowing that you died climbing upward and not running away.

© Copyright 2005 by Paul Whitley. All rights reserved.