The Holy Mountain
Sometimes you just can’t climb that mountain. But that doesn’t mean the mountain can’t be brought to you.
I’m at a place in Greece known as “Livrochio” - the place that never rains. The Holy Mountain is in the distance - so close I feel I could almost swim to it even though I know it’s not possible.
We came for a couple of days rest here with my mum and dad before we continue our pilgrimage to Cyprus. We said goodbye to my family in Athens yesterday, after such beautiful moments we will all cherish forever. I will admit I was nervous the baton being passed to me in the airport after big sister had meticulously planned and executed every moment perfectly for us all, even amidst emergency visits to doctors, hospitals and specialists. She did things for my family that I simply could not.
It’s funny how many times I’ve heard over the last few weeks, “How lucky is it…” Luck?! No chance.
No such thing!
For whatever reason, we were meant to come, meant to be here, meant to share in this moment for now…
It was so difficult to get here and I will never take for granted the generosity of my parents. They blessed us with this chance to take our children back to their roots and with them, while they still can. What a heart!
The flow on from this trip, what it’s stirred in our hearts and the hearts of our children, may never fully be realised.
But what I do know is: once you renounce yourself to a plan and a will that is not your own then you can see the hope in the hopeless, the light in the darkest of corners, and angels appear in different forms. If you don’t have the right lens, you just may miss it.
I was grateful for that lens yesterday. A dear friend came down the Holy Mountain and made his way to find us. And in many ways he brought the mountain to me.
This friend lives on the other side of the world and in the last 25 years we only ever have snippets of time together. It just so happens that of all days, of all years, of all nights, we could meet in this precious moment in time. Luck, you might say? No such thing!
I am in awe of the way God moves us and works through us. His mighty works and wonders. His right hand always guiding us - I have felt that so much on this trip.
It made me think today about some of the mountains we try to climb: watching my parents struggle to climb Delphi, the Meteora, and the “hills and valleys” that before would have been so easy. I think of what my sister could do for us, how my brother brought humour at every turn, even when it wasn’t funny, but it all made navigating those hills and valleys possible for my parents.
Gazing today at that Holy Mountain, it dawned on me. This will never be a mountain I can climb. And yet without realising it, that very mountain made its way towards me.
Whatever mountain you are trying to climb at the moment, soften your lens to see - that mountain may be making its way towards you…
Try not to miss when that happens.