Building Your Own Mountains
       
    Truly, I say to you, He that believes on me, the works that I do will he do also; and greater works than these will he do; because I go to my Father. John 14:12

   When Pastor Kathy returned from vacation in January she shared with the Disciple Class IV her experience of gazing at the glorious scenic vista of the Grand Canyon. She said there were no words to describe it. She related how she had tried to sing a favorite song, but it just would not come out. She was dumb with awe. Hers was a "Canyon" experience. I've had similar experiences that I refer to as "mountain-top" experiences, or times when you feel so close to God and get connected in a way that is simply thrilling.

  And just like Pastor Kathy, I too want those kinds of times to last. But most of life is not like that. It is ordinary running in circles taking care of responsibilities with "a thrill" as an occasional accident!. Canyons are rare as are mountains in Michigan.

  I was in one of those ordinary moments when I was forced to take an alternative route home from work due to an accident along my usual route. But on this new route I noticed that there was a house that had a bunch of circles drawn all over the huge yard in the snow by the sleds or the plastic toboggans of unseen children at play. It was right there in gray and white how I felt. What a mess it made of the yard. What a mess I sometimes feel that I am making of my life - no matter how hard I try. I could have used a canyon or a mountain or the thrilling presence of God.

  Then about a week later I had to take that same route home from work and saw something that made me laugh as well as spoke a deeper truth to my heart. You see I went by that same house and there were no longer circles, but a huge hill. Those children in their quest for a thrill had shoveled their entire yard and made their own "mountain." Then, on a following day God had covered all their labors in a fresh blanket of white snow. It looked beautiful and functional!

  These children had an incredibly flat yard, but they knew what they wanted. They thought out of the box, and yes, they ran in circles for a while, but finally they built their own mountain. And it was grooved and slick and shiny. Proof of delight. My inner voice said, "Those kids 'got it.'" Instead of cursing the flat yard they had, they did something about it. A little radical, but aren't we called to radical discipleship?

  It was in silence that Pastor Kathy found the majestic voice of God and it was on a quiet snowy evening commute that I found it too. We can retreat to and marvel at God's creation of canyons and mountains, but I was asked to consider as I viewed the "flat" of illness and injustice of the world around me adding to the cold, darkness, and gray of winter . . . to remember that with God's guidance and inspiration we can "build our own mountains." Resurrection power is available now even in the Lenten Season. The tomb is empty so that our lives are not. Now that's thrilling!