The Climb

The view from the mountaintop humbles you to imagine all that is seen was not just a matter of atoms coming together in random chaos to form this majestic picture. Sometimes, if one gazes long enough, you can hear your heartbeat and the deafening silence of the voice of God. Yes, the mountaintop is meaningful in so many ways. For example, it motivates you that achievement has arrived and you can rest in the glory of a job well done. Other times, there’s a sense of accomplishment; a means to an end. Still, one has to be careful that pride does not blur the glory of God. It takes devotion and humility to stand at the top and remember that the place you stand is not taken but given. The mountaintop must be enjoyed, understood, and contemplated upon. One doesn’t arrive by one’s own merit. That is the fantasy that is orchestrated ever so cleverly by the secular view of today. There is no place for God. “This is my doing with my sweat and hard work.” The view from the mountaintop may come with warning signs. Some may see themselves that it’s very lonely up at the top. Some may see jealousy, envy, hatred, and rage. Some may think themselves “better than.” One can only hope that there are lessons to be learned up there. Lessons? What lessons? Well, the mountaintop may not be the finishing line but a beginning point. Some may find that in reaching the top, there’s another mountain that is much higher than the one attained. And, where’s the end to the climb to the top? One climbs from mountaintop to mountaintop to get to the highest point only to find there’s still another mountain to climb that’s even higher. How frustrating it must be to search all your life for the highest point of view when you had been missing the point to view all along. 

For some, it’s about the climb and reaching the top is only a dream. There is no top, just the climb. That’s their essence. The struggle. The fight. The hard work. Job after, job, paycheck after paycheck, accomplishment after accomplishment, one scratches, kicks, and fights through the climb no matter how difficult the task. There’s a sense of victory, pride, and idolatry in climbing. It’s just as lonely, though. No one can climb with you just the way you climb. See, there’s a perfectionism about climbing. No one does it quite the way you do it. It requires hard work to be a great climber. Years of hard work. Those can’t be taken away. They are yours. You earned them and you’re going to keep climbing higher and higher until, what? See the climb in it of itself is not the problem. You know that, don’t you? It’s the climber. The climb, well, it’s always been there. And, it doesn’t necessarily need to be climbed. That’s up to the participant doing the climbing, or not. Seemingly, there has to be struggle in life. No rose smelling. That’s not what’s been taught for generations upon generations. From the cave, go out and kill the woolly mammoth. This is a responsibility. There’s no other option. Climb, you must. Yet, for whom do you climb? For yourself? For your family? Friends? There’s a “have to” in this climb which begets a certain sense of permanence as if you’re a gerbil on a wheel with no possibility of getting off, not because you can’t, but because you don’t want to. The climb is the reason. It’s fascinating that one gets so bogged down in life struggling to get from point A to point B only to find there is point C, and so on. What’s the point? Satisfaction? 

Still, there are those who are quite content at the bottom of the mountain. They know not. Not what? They don’t know any better? They are poor? They are ignorant? They are lazy? They inherited? They’re defective? What is it? Underachievers, procrastinators, dreamers, evildoers, weirdos, and the like. The misfits and dregs. God help them. Criminals, malcontents, and liars. Let’s rid ourselves of that segment. They’ll never reach the mountaintop. They have no desire for the climb. They’re worthless. But wait, were they ever given a chance? Perhaps, if one is “fair” about it and really focuses on what was given to whom and when, you might get a different perspective that maybe you’re not as great as you thought you were! Maybe, just maybe, there was a design to all of this and you haven’t been quite honest with yourself. Just maybe, there was a plan and you missed it. See, you were too busy on the climb to look back and see yourself at the bottom. Just maybe, when you’re at the top, you’ve missed helping out all those who are still climbing. Maybe, it’s not about you or the climb or the mountaintop, or even, the mountain. 

People get caught up with themselves because that’s what humans do. It’s about them. Sure, one can see glimpses of sanity and goodwill, but for the most part, humankind is selfish. Why? Well, they forgot about God. Yes, God. People don’t like to talk about God. They bring it up when it comes to religion. They make it about tradition or culture or whatever. It’s never about God. It’s about what God is, not WHO He is. See, God is a Person. He’s not some nebulous thing out there in outer space somewhere not caring about us. Sure, some just don’t believe in God, but you know what? He believes in you. See, we all have an imprint that was engrafted into us from the beginning. You can pretend it’s not there. You can spend all your life climbing. Yet, you’re missing the point of the story, the narrative, life. Sure, for thousands of years, philosophers have explained the circumstances of why we are here, the purpose or lack thereof of our existence. Well, you know what? They’ve got the imprint as well. People have been trying to figure God out, one way or another since the beginning. I’ll let you in on a secret; it’s really not that hard. No, I’m not a brainiac or some guru. I don’t have an IQ of 500. See, God told me the why.  No, I didn’t hear voices or see a burning bush. It just happened. An awareness. That’s all. God is not about the mountaintop, or the climb or even the bottom. God doesn’t need you to do anything. He has no needs. That’s why He’s God! He wants. Well, what does God want? He wants a relationship with us. It’s that simple, really. And, all this religion stuff, well, it really gets in the way of His relationship with us. 

We messed things up. If you don’t believe me, read any history book. The world is messed up. We did it. Sure, we can say that it was evolution. But honestly, we messed things up. Just remember the 20th century and that should shake you into reality. Some blame God. Sure, that’s easy. No responsibility on our part. He made us defective. It’s His fault. We don’t owe Him anything, right? That’s one way of looking at it. But that’s pride and idolatry talking, not reality. God is not the author of evil and suffering in the world. That’s not a God I would want to worship. How do I know this? Well, the argument states that if God is all powerful, then why evil? If God is all good, then why evil? Or maybe, He’s all powerful but not all good or maybe He’s all good but not that powerful. It’s an old dilemma that was first formulated by Epicurus around 300 BCE. Then, David Hume brought it to light in the 18th century during the so-called “Age of Enlightenment.” In my personal point of view, that was the “Age of Darkness.” See, God didn’t make robots. Yes, robots. This argument of Epicurus and Hume fails when free will or choice enters into the equation. We were perfectly capable of choosing God, but we didn’t. We chose ourselves to be “like” God and that was rebellion. See, God is love. But God is not just love. People want God to have their version of God. They want a God that they can manipulate. No. God is God. No bargaining. God is also: just, has wrath, is holy, blessed, immutable, sustains everything, subsistent, omnipotent, omniscient, and good. See, God is not made of parts. There’s not one attribute that is more or less than any other attribute. They are all God. So, with respect to rebellion, God is not the author of rebellion because there is free will or choice. Yet, God will not let rebellion stand. Otherwise, He wouldn’t be good or powerful. So, God enacted a plan of salvation to reconcile us with Him: Jesus. We can’t do it alone. Why? Well, we are the ones that are rebelling against God. We just don’t think it’s a big deal. It is, to God. No amount of works or climbs can get us to God. He has to do it. He has to fix it. That’s why, Jesus. God sent Jesus to fix rebellion because we couldn’t fix it ourselves. It’s complicated. But, it’s our only choice for wanting to be with God. Jesus. That’s the choice. He’s everything. He did everything. All we have to do is believe that He is the mountain, from the bottom to the top and all through His climb. Not ours. Stop climbing and start trusting I’m the One who did ALL the work for you.