One of the most important spaces in the Bible is “the mountain.” On various mountains, Abraham made his sacrifice; God gave the Ten Commandments; Elijah met God; Jesus was transfigured; he prayed before his Passion; he was crucified; and ultimately ascended into heaven. Mountains are where Heaven meets Earth, and God and humans can have a close encounter. In today’s passage, Jesus gives his
Sermon on the Mount, for the first time handing on the divine teaching of the Beatitudes to his crowds of followers.
There is something about mountains: the air is cleaner, thinner, perhaps even lacking in oxygen, making our normal intellectual barriers less effective. On a mountain, we have a different perspective—removed from the immediacy of people or business that capture our every moment and thought. We are freer to engage
with the essentials of life, the messages that God wants to write in our hearts.
While we mark and remember the peak mountaintop experiences in our lives, we shouldn’t underestimate the progress we make as we engage, struggle, and learn in the valleys. But we need a place we can return to again and again, where we can remember who we are in relation to God and the world. While we don’t always have the luxury of ascending the
Drakensberg, Magaliesberg or Kogelberg, we can go up our own mountain and approach God in that place. We all need to find our own mountain—our own spiritual place, where we can spend time and listen deeply to God, who wants, who aches, to speak with us. It can be in a favourite chapel, or a particular park, or an anonymous library, where the usual barrier between God and us is thinner than usual. Here, we remember our past spiritual consolations and open ourselves up for more.
Where do I feel closest to God? Where have I had profound spiritual experiences? What are the lessons I have learned? How can I capture those moments and revisit them when I need to remember my consolations?
