The pain and the suffering
Well, I finally did it....those words are exciting for me to say. I finally FINISHED the Incline. (For those of you who are not familiar with C S, the incline is basically a mile long staircase that rises 2000 feet in elevation) A year of ignorance, shame, and anger is over. The last time I attempted the incline, I almost passed out due to altitude sickness and dehydration. Well, not today....donning my water bottle and surrounded by a motivated roommate and some unsure friends, I set off determined not to let that ridiculous mountain beat me again. Of course small children, buff men, and even the elderly (well compared to me) managed to pass me, but that is of no consequence. I finished! And there was MUCH rejoicing.
You know working for Peak 3 taught me to look for spiritual parallels in everything. The incline was not exempt from that. It offers many parallels. As you start out the journey looks impossible and a bit ridiculous. You can not imagine what would posses you to even attempt walking up that! Then you start and realize that determination (or despair) rise up in your heart. You want to get to that top, but each step is painful, and there are ever so many. I found that focusing on each step with occasional glances toward the goal helped me the most. Then once you get to what you think is the top you realize it is the false summit...there is more to go. You can see a lot, but not everything from that vantage point. But coming so far already, it does not seem terribly long to continue, but still painful. You trudge on and eventually make it to the top, the real top, able to see the trail and the entire city and even Pikes with such clarity. Is that not what the Christian life is like? We start out not sure what we are working for....then we catch a glimpse we see God and perhaps what He would have us do with our lives. We stretch....yearn, push to the goal, sometimes it is unclear. Sometimes all is clear and sometimes all we know or see is the next step. Sometimes we think we have reached our goal or the wholeness that God had for us. Then we look up and see ever so many more stairs to climb. In the end, it is all worth the pain and the struggle. We often can see why God brought us the way we came, and had us climb the steps that we did. His purpose was woven in and out of every decision and move we made. Driving us to the goal, the top.