The Hill

Some of my most vivid, powerful, experiences of God's presence are through imagery. I thought I would share a couple images I received while in college.

Imagine you are climbing up a steep, rocky mountain. You can barely stand upright. The rocks are sharp and jagged. All you have is a rope. At the top of the mountain God is standing, gripping the other end of the rope. You look up to the peak, straining to see Him. With all your heart you want to be up there, standing with your Lord. You pull yourself up on the rope with all your strength. But you keep falling backwards. Your feet keep slipping. Now, slowly look behind you. What’s there? Is there something that keeps pulling you down? Is there something in your life that is pulling you away from God? Now look again. Is that the only thing behind you? Or is there something that is pushing you up, supporting you and helping you as you struggle? Now look back up to the peak. What is God doing? Is he pulling on the rope also? Is he speaking to you? Look closer, at his face. Look into his eyes. What do you see? Stay there a few minutes and allow God to speak to you.

There are times in our lives when God seems very distant, when the rocks are sharp and with every attempt we make to move forward we seem to only fall farther away. It was during one of these times that I walked up the hill behind campus to a spot where I often go on such days when I need to get away from everything and just be by myself to think or pray. It was a nice sunny day and in the afternoon when the sun was almost directly behind me. But on the top of the hill the wind hits you a little harder than it does elsewhere. I had been up there a little while already and was beginning to get cold. The wind was whipping at my hair, blowing it in my face so I couldn’t see, and in my mouth. But not yet ready to go back to the dorm, I stayed a little while longer and tried to withstand the chill. I was almost ready to leave when I noticed that my back felt warm from the sun. As I sat there focusing on this warmth, it slowly began to wrap around me like a blanket, maybe not totally taking away the chill of the wind but lessening it nonetheless.
Sitting on the top of the hill that day I was reminded that even though life gets rough sometimes and the winds get fierce, the Son is always at our back. God is always there with us, wrapping us in His unconditional, unending love.