I read a story this morning about a mountain.

Well, the mountain was a minor character.
Okay fine, it wasn’t a character. It was the setting.
I did pay attention in English class.

Actually I didn’t. That was a lie.
English was boring.

But.

The story, the setting, the point:

I was reading an account of a nation, and I was at the part where their leader was called up on a mountain to meet with God. It was a big deal. There had been preparations, promises, blood and instructions.

The important part was in a paragraph saying

“When Moses (the leader) went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord settled on [the mountain]. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.

Now. I might not have much experience with leading nations and clouds and such, but I do know one or two things about how mountains can be.

When you’re the only one on a mountain, it’s quiet. Eerily so. Sometimes there’s wind, but that only adds to the isolation effect.

And this mountain had a cloud, it says. When a cloud sinks down to earth these days, we call it fog. I don’t know about you, but all the fog I’ve seen is usually pretty misty and wet. That makes me cold – the kind of cold you can’t shake off. It’s the kind that gets your fingers and bones both cold, and water is clinging and drippy,everywhere.

Sounds miserable.

Oh but wait – a cloud brings more.

It hides things. It’s confusing and distorts, even the light. It mesmerizes as it moves, always changing and with it our perception of the scenery it shrouds.

So now we have wet, lonesome, miserable, and confusing.

Sounds great. Or not.

Six days. Give me six minutes and I would have been convinced I had heard wrong. Nope, I don’t see God here. Sorry, my mistake, I look crazy, I’ll just head back to civilization now…

But.

The leader dude waited. And God showed up.

Then the part that really struck me:

“To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.”

Now. The nation waiting below had a different perspective.

They saw the glory of the Lord.

I haven’t blogged for a while. Not truly. I’ve wanted to; I’ve started posts, but it never happened. It’s been a full month. Very hard, in some ways. A slog, some days. But also good. Rich. Real.

And today I was reminded that even when it feels like I’m damp, discouraged or confused

and sitting, shivering on a rock,

there is a bigger picture.

 

And maybe somewhere, someone far away is seeing the Glory of God.