At the Top

After a long climb and much scrambling over boulders we finally reached the top of Old Rag, a little mountain in the Shenandoah National Park. Our eyes feasted on a panoramic scene of the valley below. The scenery certainly looked a lot different than it did when we were actually down there. It was a zoomed out view, a big picture that showed a large area. We could see the streams and roads coming, going, and intersecting with each other. It looked like a living map.

We used a lot of energy to climb Old Rag that day. We were terribly tired by the time we arrived home. Our clothes had holes. We had scrapes and bruises from the rough rocks. There was some danger of falling too, especially as we looked out over the vista at the top.

Life is something like that. There's a mountain for each one of us to climb. It takes a lot of energy to walk uphill and to claw our way over huge boulders. Our cars, computers, and other possessions wear out as we struggle upward. There's a constant danger of falling down, especially at the top.

It's so much easier to be comfortable in the valley below. No expenditure of energy, no fatigue, no holes in our clothes, no scraped skin, no risk of falling. However, at the bottom of the mountain of life there is also no challenge, no sense of accomplishment, and, especially, no view from the top. The person who stays at the bottom of the mountain of life remains trapped in the details of daily life without ever seeing the road beyond. The person who chooses to spend many hours a week in an emotionally gratifying TV dream world misses life's challenges and the sense of accomplishment that comes from meeting them. The student who stops studying fails to experience the excitement of the climb to the top. At the bottom of the mountain of life spiritual and intellectual growth grind to a halt. Life becomes a boring exercise in futility.

Struggling to carry out a New Year's resolution is an upward climb. Scrambling over that rough-faced boulder of a bad habit puts us a little closer to the view from the top. And a little more capable of clawing our way over the next one.

We can all benefit from eating less junk and more veggies, from less time in an unreal fantasy world and more time with prayer, Bible reading, study, and building relationships, from less inertia and more exercise. The view from the top is well worth the climb up. While we're climbing, let's take some children with us. The benefits last a lifetime and beyond.

Mary Sue Laing, M.Ed.
Resource Teacher, St. Ambrose School
newskill7@msn.com

by Mary Sue Laing, M. Ed., New Skill, Inc. Academic Tutor