Mark 9:2 “After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.”
I have had numerous mountaintop moments throughout my life, the most recent one being my 17 days of summer journey this past July. It began when I attended a Dave Matthews Band concert and continued when I spent three days of worship and learning at She Speaks 2015 in the presence of 800 other women on a similar journey as me. And as if all of that wasn’t enough, I then took a four day camping trip at the Outer Banks in North Carolina, followed by a two day visit with an old college friend in Delaware and finally a family wedding in Pennsylvania. WOW!
To say I was on a high the entire time I was traveling is an understatement. I was on a mountaintop!
But then I had to return home. I had to return back to reality.
I have been thinking a lot about the entry I shared recently about my mom and her experience with bipolar illness. When she was on a “high” she felt that euphoric mountaintop feeling for months at a time. But then her switch was flipped overnight (as my dad used to say) and she found herself in a devastating “low” for even longer periods of time. She had a religious experience that she mentioned in the term paper I shared that deeply affected her and I believe she sought that feeling for the rest of her life. Her mountaintop moments were extreme.
But for most of us, we experience the mountains and valleys of life in more normal cycles. God gives us the mountaintop moments to make us appreciate what we have when we are down in the valleys doing the hard work. Next time you are in a valley and feeling lost or depressed or seeking a mountaintop feeling…ask God for a reminder.
I had a reminder a few weeks ago while I was riding my bike through my neighborhood. I was taken back to that special time two years ago when I was in Japan and I realized I was still ALIVE while I was riding a bicycle through the Fuguki trees. Music, food, smells etc. can bring back those feelings. And when you have those feelings, thank God for them. Thank him for the valleys. For it is the valleys that teach us how precious the ride back up will be. And the valleys help us to bring others along with us for the ride.
I might be in a valley right now, but I had a mountaintop moment just a few days ago during the lunar eclipse. There is just something magical about an experience like that. The Earth has one moon and we can all see it and so many of us were watching that glorious event at the same time. That thought gave me an overwhelming feeling of unity, gratitude and peace.
God, thank You for the mountaintop moments as well as the valley lows. Please help those who do not know You to realize their despair will not last forever. By seeking You through every moment we realize You have a purpose for everything that happens to us. We are never alone. We love you and we thank You for loving us the way you do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
It is so good to be ALIVE!
ENJOY THE JOURNEY HIGH OR LOW!
Blessings,
Stacey ~ iamalive
http://youtu.be/77wa0Kea7ms