Meditation for 30th August 2022
Mountains High
As a family, we are blessed to have walked often in the mountains and this year we walked for 6 days in the Swiss Alps with our family, including grandchildren of six and a half, nearly nine and fourteen and half years old.
Each morning after breakfast we would emerge from the hotel and walk in the fresh cool air falling into the valley from the mountains above. After a short cable car ride, when the sounds of the valley were left behind and a beautiful quiet came upon us, we would have coffee and pastries and then walk – usually about 6 miles.
Ahead of us, and then all around us, the mountain peaks soared, the waterfalls tumbled from the melting glaciers and the turquoise-coloured lake offered peace and calm. The mountains provided a panorama that was awesome and humbling. The silence was precious, the water cooling and the light, filtering through the early mist, or later, the intense sunshine on snow, ice and rock, was other-worldly.
The scale of the mountains was majestic.
The vistas before our eyes were full of strength and power, so inspirational. As we looked up to the mountain peaks ranged around us, I felt the immensity of our creator God. I was pleased that my grandchildren could see as many as seven glaciers cradled in the tops of the mountains, they could see them as the source of water and power for the valleys below and we could explain to them how precious they are to our world and the threat we have put them under.
The alpine slopes, meadows and woods were a source of wonderful flowers, butterflies and beetles – identified by the use of the Seek App!
The other walkers were of all ages – at one of the cable car cafes I was moved to stand near an older gentleman looking quietly out to the peaks opposite and down into the valley. He carried on his back a small day rucksack, like us, but his contained his small oxygen pack to deliver his life-giving breath. What courage and determination to still be coming up into the mountains.
On another holiday we had met a 94-year-old with his grandson who told us – “I can still come up here – I’m just a little slower these days!”
There is a magic about being in the mountains – at sunset we were gifted with the inspiring Alpen Glow which picked out the craggy peaks and the ice and snow with a wonderful rosy light – it was as if God was placing his warm, gentle hands on these beautiful high places and revealing once again the beauty of his creation.
Mountains have a special significance in the Bible.
The Ten Commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai.
In Isaiah 52,7 we read “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” “
and
“Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54,10
And in Psalms
In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Psalm 95,4-5
A song of ascents Psalm 121, 1-2
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
Jesus so often withdrew to the mountain.
In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles. Luke 6,12
After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone. Matthew14, 22-23
For Jesus, the mountain could be a place of praise, rest, communion, surrender, blessing and ultimately a mountain, the Mount of Olives, was the place of his ascension from earth to heaven. Mountains provide a wonderful source of meditation – to physically walk in, to look at and think about.
Many will not be able to go to the mountains but using a photograph of the peaks and perhaps listening to some uplifting music may help to engage with God’s wonderful mountain-creation – a symbol of His power, His strength and always a refuge for our human frailty.
I leave you with two pieces of music and a painting which help me to conjure up the mystical magic of mountains:
