Mountain Living-Part 2

 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.

    Mountain living means staying on the right trail.

    A lot of people forget that Mt. St. Helen's is still an active volcano. What does that mean? It means that at any given moment, without warning, it could erupt. The big eruption in 1980 came with a lot of warning. Earthquakes were shaking the area. Steam was rising from the top. Rumbles could be heard. There were a lot of signs indicating that this thing was about to blow. I remember when we were taking our hike seeing little puffs of steam around the top. There was a lot of argument as to whether it was steam or clouds. I am convinced it was steam, and I am sticking to that story. 

    There were several signs along our hike that constantly told us to stay on the trail. Going up any closer to the lava domes is a very dangerous hike. There are caves that are formed from the melting glaciers around the inside of the volcano. The lava/water heat/cold mix produces some scalding conditions, and the instability could cause a cave in. But this isn't the only reason they tell you to stay on the trail. The possibility of this thing blowing is still real, and they want you to stay on the trail in case the need to find your body. It makes search and rescue easier as well. 

    There was one trail we saw that I felt like you would have to be insane to take. The trail went up the ridge of a mountain alongside Mt. St. Helen's. It wouldn't have got us any closer to the volcano, however, it had some great views. The problem with this trail was it was about 2 feet wide, and a pretty extreme drop off on either side. You had to stay on the trail. Failure to do so would have hurt.

    As I started thinking about mountain living, these trails have really stood out to me. There were a lot of ways to get to where we ended our hike. We could have cut straight through instead of taking the winding routes the trail offered. That would have been difficult, since that route would have resulted in a lot of climbing up rock faces and required some equipment we didn't have. It probably would have taken longer, too. We had to go through a couple of pretty deep valleys at the base of the volcano, and the trail offered the path that made it easy to cross. Trying to do this on our own could have gotten us hurt. We could have ignored the trails completely and did our own thing. I doubt we would have gotten lost, but I am sure we would have gotten into some places we weren't supposed to be. We could have gone up the volcano and checked out the domes and the glaciers and seriously could have been injured. 

    The point is, there is a reason for the trail. It is there for our safety. It is there so we can enjoy the trip. It offers views and experiences that are amazing. Sure, it is a longer route, but it is an easier one. It is supposed to be walked on. It makes life easier. At the end of the day, it is the way you are supposed to go to enjoy the mountain.

    The trail of integrity is the path we are supposed to walk on in life. If we want to live on holy hills, we have to walk blamelessly. We have to do what is right. We have to speak truth, real truth, from our heart. 

    I think this is a path many Christians do not want to walk on anymore. We want to do our own thing and find any excuse possible to not walk on the trail God has intended for us. Some will say, "I am a work in progress," or, "I am better than I was but not where I need to be," or, "God hasn't really convicted me about that," knowing the whole time God is talking to us about it, but we don't want to listen. We say things like "God has already died for that sin," and continue to sin because we know we have that forgiveness. We have been riding the train of Cheap Grace way too long. 

    If I was to look at my life and see the times where I was not walking this path of integrity, I can see I was really missing out on some good things. There are times where I did things on my own, and it ended up having a devastating time in handling the issues I was dealing with. There are times where I walked my own way, and I got lost. There are times where I have done my own thing and life seemed to get more and more difficult. 

    The path is their for our safety. It helps us really experience life like we are supposed to. Sure, it is tough, but seeing God work around you is amazing. It may be a longer route. It may be a more difficult route to take in some situations, but if we really want to experience God in big, new, and exciting ways, we need to stay on the trail. Walk blamelessly, do right, speak truth. 

    Some people say this is legalism. I don't think of it that way. I know I am already saved. I know nothing I do can make me more saved. Walking righteously is an act of worship to God. I was reminded of that this morning. A had the privilege of going to the ordination of a long time good friend of mine. I have known this guy for years, and if you ask me, he is one of the best guys I know. He is super nice, he loves the Lord, he loves others, and he has a servant's heart. He is everything you could ever want in a man of God. On top of it all, he has a great voice. I love hearing this guy sing, and I have, on more than one occasion, caught myself wiping away a tear or two when he has done special music.

    So, on top of being a part of this special service, I was pleased to see that my friend was going to sing a solo this morning during service. As the music started, he began singing, and I could tell something wasn't right. It didn't sound right, and I couldn't put my finger on what was happening. Was it the musicians? Was it the piano? Was it the guitar? Surely it wasn't him. He can always hit the right notes. 

    Halfway through the first verse, he stopped everything. He looked at the band and touched at his chest, saying in a way it was his fault. Then, he looked at the audience and said, "We are just going to have to start this over. I am offkey, and I know it, and I know that if I start that way, I am never going to find it." They started over, and man, it was amazing. I might have got teary eyed. Allergies. Anyways...

    My friend knew that he was on the wrong path musically. We knew it, too. If this song of praise was going to be a blessing, it would have to be on key. My friend knew that, and got back on the right musical path. It was only when he was on the right key did he feel like this music from the heart was right. It was only when he was on the right musical path that we could take part in that praise. It was only when the right musical path was found that we could sing on a holy hill.

    If we want dwell on holy hills, we have to get on the right path. When we walk righteously, we are protected by God. We enjoy life the way God intended. We see God's glory and bask in his majesty. We do the right thing not because we have to, but because we want to. We want to do the right thing because it is an act of worship to God. The actions of our life are an overflow from our heart. If we are filled with God's truth and His love, the results are seen in our everyday life. We walk righteously.

    It isn't too late. If you are reading this and feel like you are nowhere near walking on the right path, follow the example my friend set this morning. Stop everything. Get on the right path. I don't know what that looks like for you. It could mean finally letting go of something you have been holding on to for a long time. It could mean forgiving someone that hurt you years ago. It could mean finally handling that addiction that has been ruining your life. It could mean having to be a little more disciplined. It could mean praying more. It could mean guarding your heart more. Whatever it is, it isn't too late. Stop. Find the path. Get on it. 

Walk blamelessly. Do what is right. Fill your heart with truth.

Mountain Living-Part 1

 Living on the mountain is a different way of life. 

If you are from the South, you know that summer is miserable. Depending on what part of the South you live in, it is downright brutal. In Memphis, summer is no joke. The humidity is always at 100%. It usually doesn't rain. Mosquitoes the size of 747 planes take a pint of blood out of you every chance they get. You will literally start sweating from the time you walk out your door to the time you get to your car. Okay, that might just be a fat guy thing. But honestly, it is just hot.

I usually spend my summers hugging my air conditioner. It's like I become a vampire. I hate the sun. I hate outside. I do not want to face the heat. I avoid it as much as possible. I like my igloo of a house with all of my fans pointing at me. I. Must. Stay. Cool.

One of the things I noticed about my trip to the mountain was that outside is just different there. The sun is out, but it isn't hot. The air is light, with hardly any humidity. You can actual smell the flowers in the breeze. We walked for a long time and didn't hardly sweat at all. I remember saying to one of my friends, "Can you imagine doing this hike in Memphis weather?" He said, "We would have died in the first mile."

The weather on the mountain begs you to come outside. It is inviting. It isn't oppressively hot or humid. It feels good to be out there. The wind blows hard up there, cooling you down. It feels good up there. You just want to stay outside all of the time. 

Dwelling on the holy hill is a lot like that. It begs you to come out of your comfort zone and do something different. The air is different there. It isn't oppressive or heavy, but light and enjoyable. You catch a breeze of the holiness of God and it refreshes you. You want to stand and just enjoy that breeze all day. Standing in the brilliance of God's glory just feels good. The trip up is a little tough, but once you get up there, you don't want to come back down. You don't want to go back to where you came from because it so nice to be on that mountain, in His Presence, and as a result of that, you will never be the same again. 

Life is now different because you are on the mountain.

A Mountain View

 I have lived in Memphis most of my life. Sure, we moved around a lot inside the city limits when I was a kid. We moved to Iowa for a year, too. But everywhere I have ever lived has had one thing in common. It is flat. Like, flat flat. No mountains. Barely any hills. Nothing but flat land for miles. 

I really forget how flat everything is until I travel to other places. When I go to Nashville, it stays flat for about 80 or 90 miles, then you start seeing hills and turns, rivers and lakes. Alabama is the same way. When we visit family down there, it seems like the landscape is flat all the way through Mississippi until you hit the Alabama border, and then it all changes. 

There is a drawback to living in such a flat place. No views. You can't really appreciate this until you live somewhere like Memphis. The only real view you get of the city is coming in and out over the bridge. Now, this flat living does make for some great storm watching. You can see a storm come in from miles away. and see lightning get brighter as it gets closer. But other than that, there isn't really anything to look forward to when it comes to enjoying the landscape. 

It is different in the mountains. Everywhere we went we seemed to get a spectacular view of something. People take advantage of these beautiful views. There are houses and cabins strategically located everywhere. Trees get cleared to provide a view of a lake from the front porch. Houses are built into the side of mountains just to get a perfect view of a river from the balcony. Observation decks were built, towers were constructed, and seating was placed for visitors in public places to enjoy many of the views. I saw some breathtaking scenery, some beautiful waterfalls, majestic and tall mountains, and I was blown away by it all. My friends and I often caught ourselves saying, "This would be a perfect place for a house." 

There are times in my life where I feel like something is wrong. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I know something is missing. I try to fill that void several ways. I play video games. I read a book. I get on social media and fall down a wormhole of youtube videos or facebook posts. I watch TV. But I can't just seem to shake the feeling that I am really missing something. My head feels cloudy. I am just not happy. The things I do to fill the void are fun, but a bit monotonous. I wake up, work, come home, do my nightly routine, go to bed. Wake-up, rinse, repeat. 

This is flat living. 

There is nothing to see or do because, let's face it, we weren't meant to live life in a flat way. We were made for mountains. We were made to dwell on a holy hills. When we settle on flat living, we miss out on the spectacular views of life God meant for us to have. We miss the beautiful things He is doing. We miss the unbelievable things He has done. Sure, we can see when the storms of life come and go, but who wants to live life storm watching? I want to see life in a much better way. I want to be in the company of God. I want to to experience His protection and His holiness. I want to be consumed by Him in such a way, that I can see bigger and better things. Flat living is my way of life. Mountain dwelling is living in Him. That is a much better way. 

Moving to the Mountain

 There is a big difference between hiking and living on a place. 

When I think back to our hike up Mt. St Helen's, We were looking to do something temporary. This idea evolved over the course of several days. The first thought was to camp as close as we could overnight, then hike around the front of the mountain. If we were to do this, a lot more planning would have been involved. We would have had to get a lot more food. We would have needed a lot more water. We would have had to find a space, set up tents, get more clothing, prepare for the cool nights and the warm days. This idea was quickly shot down when I found out the whole place is a national monument and we aren't allowed to camp there.

As it was, our excursion there was a day long event. We knew that. We didn't take a change of clothes, and what we wore fit the weather for the day. We took enough water to make the trip and that was it. We took enough food for a light lunch and that was all. We wore shoes and boots for the occasion. Will we wear those shoes and boots again? Yes, but I wouldn't play basketball in hiking boots. I'm not going to the grocery store in them. I have more comfortable shoes for that. I'm not going to carry that backpack full of water with me everywhere I go. I don't  need two liters of water strapped to my back all of the time, although with the heat and humidity we have in Memphis, it might not be a bad idea.

The point is, a hike has a beginning and an end. There's lot to do along the way, but eventually, you get in the car and you go home.

Dwelling on a holy hill is different. If you say you are dwelling somewhere, you have set your mind to a permanent state of being. You are staying there forever, and in doing so, you are taking everything you need with you and leaving behind everything you don't. 

I hate moving. It is the worst experience ever. My wife and I have been very fortunate to have some very stable living situations in our time together. We have moved only three times in our entire 20 year marriage. We want to move again, but that seems like a daunting task. We have to fix up this house and sell it. We have to find a place in our price range. We have to find a place that is convenient to everything we do and where we work. But the most overwhelming thing in discussing moving to me is dealing with the stuff. We. Have. A. Lot. Of. Stuff.

When you start to look around and think about moving into a new place, I don't know about you, but all of the sudden you see there are a lot of things you can do without. We keep them around because we don't want to get rid of them, but on the other hand, we really don't know what to do with them. We might need that one day. We used that a few months ago. I have plans for that. I meant to use this for that. The things keep piling up. They get stored away. They get tucked in closets and cabinets. They collect dust and are forgotten. 

When we make the spiritual move to dwell on the holy hill, we have to get rid of a lot of stuff. Some of these things we can easily throw away because we know they have no place there. They are the dirty things that are sitting around and are easily seen. They clutter the countertops of our life. They have been sitting in the walkways of our heart forever, and now that they are gone, it is way more convenient. 

Some things are hidden in the closets of our mind and the cabinets of the heart. They are the things that we think we need, but we really don't. I don't know what that looks like for you, but I know what I have seen and done. If you have something in your life and you keep doing it over and over again and feel guilty about it afterwards and don't want anyone to know, yeah, that is something to get rid of. If there is something you do, and you say to yourself, "Well, I'm not perfect. God will forgive me," that really needs to go. If you say, "I'm not at a place where I can deal with that sin in my life right now," deal with it. If you want to dwell on a holy hill, you are carrying too much baggage. 

On my flight to Portland, I had to go through security. This is the first time I have flown since 9/11, and I had no clue what security was going to be like, but I had heard the stories. They were very specific about what things could and could not go on a plane. We had to walk through scanners, take shoes off, I got patted down. All of this was to ensure I was going to take something on the plane that wasn't supposed to be there. 

If you want to soar in high places with God, you got to get rid of the things that aren't allowed on the flight. If you want to dwell on the holy hill, get rid of the things that don't belong there.

Learning to Hike

 I recently took a vacation to visit friends in the Pacific Northwest. It was my first visit to this part of the country, and I don't think I have personally seen a more beautiful place. I was in awe of the rivers, the trees, the ocean, the beach, and most importantly, the mountains. I have seen mountains before. I have been to the Smokies dozens of times, but what you see in Washington is something completely different. 

I was personally blown away by Mt. St. Helen's. Over 40 years ago, this still active volcano blew, sending ash, lava, mud and destruction to the area. I have seen pictures. I have heard stories. I have seen video. But to see it firsthand is something completely different. The evidence of this destructive force of nature is still there. Mountains are littered with dead trees that were laid flat up against them. Spirit Lake is full of dead trees floating on it's now 200 foot higher surface. There is a two story A frame house that is a few miles away that is still buried halfway up. The force of the explosion has caused mountain faces to still be bare of trees, even today. 

My first day there was spent going to all of the easy to get to observatories. You could see the paths left by the mud slides. You could get a good view of the destruction the explosion had made. But you couldn't really get close to Mt. St. Helen's itself. That just wasn't good enough for me. I wanted to be close to this mountain. I was a little obsessed. My friends say I was a lot obsessed. That's fine. I will own that. I watched several documentaries that night about the eruption in 1980. I started looking at trails and asking questions about how close we could get. I would have been fine camping at the foot of the mountain, but that isn't allowed. I knew I just wanted to get closer. 

We eventually came up with a game plan. There was a trail that led to some waterfalls that were formed from the melting glaciers inside the volcano that we could take and get as physically close to the volcano as we could without climbing up to the summit itself. I didn't think I could make the hike up to the top, but I was confident that I could make the trail around the front. After looking at it, we found that the trail was 8 miles in and out. That sounds like a lot, but the app we were looking at said this was a moderate trail. After seeing various trails labeled difficult, I thought moderate was definitely more doable, so we decided that the last day of the visit would be spent hiking Mt. St. Helen's.

That day finally came. I tried to be as prepared as possible. I bought a decent set of boots while I was there. I wore them everywhere to break them in. We took 2 liters of water each on the hike so we could stay hydrated. We took food with us as well. We planned on this being an all day hike, so we tried to do everything we could to be prepared for anything possible. 

The roads there were terrible. The route we took my first day was like a two lane highway. It was scenic and well travelled, and well maintained. The route to the starting point of our hike was scenic, but it was full of hair raising turns, tight spaces, and lot of potholes. Pothole is an understatement. Deep canyons in the road would be a better description. It took us over an hour of weaving, braking, and turning until we finally reached our destination. 

We got to the starting point, and we were already closer to the volcano than I had been. Seeing it from afar really didn't do it justice. This thing is massive, tall and intimidating. Puffs of steam would come from around the lava dome every once in a while. It was like walking into the bedroom of a sleeping giant. You know looking at this thing it is dangerous, and you don't want wake it. But you still want to get a closer look. So, we packed our bags with provisions and up we went. 

The weather was beautiful. The sun was out. It wasn't hot. No humidity at all, and for someone from Memphis, you can really appreciate that in and of itself. Our first mile was a constant uphill slope. Our elevation change was somewhere between 750 and 1000 feet before we started going downhill again. The first two miles of the trail were a gravel service road that wound around a mountain close to the volcano. If it wasn't for the elevation change, it would have been an easy walk, but the constant uphill had my legs burning early. A van drove by us early on in the hike, and the thought crossed all of our minds to hitch a ride with them. We were determined to make the hike though, so we pressed on.

The road eventually ended and turned into a trail. This trail went across the front of the volcano. This would lead us eventually to the waterfalls. When I got to this point of the trail, I was pretty wiped. I was tempted to stop and turn around here. We were really close to Mt. St. Helen's, and had a clear shot of the lava domes. Still, this wasn't good enough. 

We kept hiking. Up and down winding paths, through a small trench then back up again. After another mile, we settled into what I believe is one of the lahars from the volcano. I could be wrong. It could be where a lot of mudslide happened. Regardless, it was a canyon that something ran through after the eruption, and now has a stream of glacier water was running through it. We were still a mile and a half away from our destination, but I was already beat. My friends looked tired, and even though they didn't say it and haven't said it, I had a feeling they were ready to turn around and go back. There was a big flat rock by the stream we decided to sit on and eat lunch. We rested for a while, and then made the decision that this was a good stopping point and decided to make the trek back. 

The trek back was rough. We spent a lot of time taking pics and stopping on the way down. Now, we just wanted to get back. I was tired. I was hot. I was sun burned. But we pressed on, pausing every now and again to catch my breath and rest my knee, which by this time was telling me I needed to redefine my idea of moderate trail walking. My feet hurt. I started cramping in my legs toward the end. We finally made it back to the car, gladly took our packs off, and eased into our seats for our treacherous ride back home. Honestly, the turns and potholes didn't seem too bad now that I treasured the seat so much.

We hiked over 6 miles. My tracker said we walked over 18,000 steps and climbed 84 flights of stairs. Made sense why my knee and legs were responding like they were. 

The next couple of days I felt terrible. I was severely dehydrated, and I started downing Gatorade like I owned stock in it. A friend of mine hooked me up with some electrolyte packs and that helped tremendously. I drank 2 gallons of water a day and started to feel somewhat normal by Friday. But I will never forget the experience. I will never forget seeing the power and the beauty of this volcano, and the guys that were with me, the best friends I have, willing to go with, even though they both probably thought I was insane suggesting it. 

I do have one regret though. I didn't get to the destination. I really wanted to see those waterfalls. 

So, what is the point of this long drawn out story about this old fat guy deciding to hike up a volcano? Well, partly, it is to brag a little. I ate lunch at the mouth of a volcano, and not many people can say that they have done that. But there is a lesson to be learned here, and I was in my quiet time this morning thinking about it, I wanted to share it.

So, looking back, I may have been overly ambitious taking this hike on. I don't hike. I hardly exercise. So to think that I had the nerve to lace up some hiking boots and go on my merry way is pretty audacious. I really didn't count the cost. I didn't prepare. I didn't hydrate properly. I didn't stretch and prepare myself physically. I woke up deciding to walk up the volcano and nobody was going to stop me. Brave? Maybe. Stupid? Definitely. 

But, in all honestly, and that is usually what I am all about, I do this everyday. No, I don't hike mountains everyday. But I go through this life everyday somewhat unprepared. I think we all do to some extent. Let's face it, on any given day, we are bound to find eruptions somewhere. It could be big ones, like a car wreck, a loss of a job, or a death to someone close to us. It could be we just have a rough road to walk, where we are constantly going uphill with no end in sight. We might have a plan, and then something happens and we don't reach the goal. This is life. Many Christians think that because we are saved, that this road, this trail of life, is going to be a moderate walk with beautiful scenery. We really need to realize what moderate means. It is tough. It is difficult. There are uphill battles. There are winding roads. There are potholes. There are trenches. When we are not prepared, this hike of life is treacherous. 

On our way back to the car, we were passed by this couple that were definitely more prepared than we were. They had no packs. They had no provisions. They didn't need them honestly, because I think they probably did this whole hike in a quarter of the time we did. They sped walk past us on an incline and weren't even breathing hard. They were dressed in long sleeves and pants, with what appeared to be regular sneakers, but if I had to guess, they were an expensive brand of hiking shoe I had never scene before. They were easily going double our pace, and we eventually lost sight of them.

I guarantee you this hike for them was easy. They were prepared physically. They knew what to wear and it made their journey easy. They made it to their destination. They saw things I didn't get to see. They will probably see more things that I won't get to see. I am super jealous of them.

I have to learn from this. There are people who hike this trail of life and are super prepared for it. They stay in God's Word. They pray. They keep their hearts pure and spiritual fit. They get to experience things with the Lord that I don't, and I can't get mad at them for that. They are doing the work. I am the one that isn't. And when I finally settle in and decide that I want to experience big things with God, I have to do the work to make sure I can get there. 

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Psalms 15. It reads: "O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his own money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be moved."

I want to hike on holy hills. But man, I have a lot of work to do to be that kind of person.