Seeking a Summit

from The North Face of God by Ken Gire

"We climb in hopes of reaching some summit of understanding. But the air is thin, the heights are dizzying, and clouds are everywhere, hemming us in at every turn. Some find their faith on that climb. Others lose it, forever numb to the feelings they once had for God. The risks are real. Only a novice would dismiss them. The more experienced climbers stand at the base of the mountain, sobered by those realities. Yet something draws them up the mountain."

"Dear Lord,
We have lived so much of our lives on the foothills of spiritual experience, 
enjoying the view in safety and comfort, 
warming ourselves by the fires of other people's stories.  But those fires have embered away and no longer warm us the way they used to.  We need our own stories and the warmth that they bring.  

We want to know You, Lord, not just know about You.  We don't need another Bible study.  We need You.  So we leave this sedentary life behind and climb to higher ground in hopes that there we might find You.

  

The once-distant theological peaks are now jaggedly personal.

And so we ask You to grant us some foothold upon which we can steady ourselves, 
some handhold from which we can raise ourselves higher.  We have never walked this way before, this very dangerous, mountain way, and we are afraid.

Afraid of what we may find there.
Afraid of what we may not.

 
Grant us traveling mercies for the climb, Lord, though our steps be slow, grant they be sure.  Though our progress be slight, grant it be steady.  We will look to the mountains as David did, trusting that You are our help and that You will not let us stumble or fall.  For You know how bad our knees are, how weak our lungs, and how afraid we are of heights."