On the Road: Lessons from the Mountains

At 11,000 ft, I can’t remember what was stressing me out when I left home this morning. Maybe I should have been checking items off my to-do list instead of going out for a hike. Maybe I should have sent out a client project yesterday. Maybe I was worrying about my son’s medication. Maybe I was being a bit over-introspective. I don’t remember what I picked to worry on today, but I look out and the world before me is so vast.

I’m on the tundra above the tree line. Across the valley, those mountain pines look like blades of grass. The next mountain looks so close, and yet the cars driving up that next rise look like ants crawling up their ant hill, all in a line. I’m getting some perspective.

It looks as if the whole world is within view, but I’m only looking at a small corner of Colorado. What’s more, I’m only looking at a section of the park. Consequently, I feel so small - in a good way. What are my worries compared to this vast place? Compared to the one who created all of this, and holds it in the palm of his hand? What are my small worries compared to the Lord who created me, loves me, cares for me, saves me, sanctifies me?

I lift up my eyes to the hill -

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2

In these mountains - rough and dangerous, vast beautiful, God has placed creatures. Birds fly in the air, marmots sit on the rocks, dall sheep are perched, the elk bugle. How do they live here? God cares for these little guys in a wild environment. They have food, they have shelter, they thrive in a harsh place. He helps them. Of course he helps me, too. He tells me in Luke that I am even more valuable than these birds. Why worry?

Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Luke 12:24

Is there a place that gives you perspective?