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.