Welcome to the Valley

There’s a quote from John Muir declaring “The mountains are calling and I must go”.  Now to be fair, I have not read the book from which this quote is from, but I know for certain that it is popular.  It’s a rallying cry to get out into nature and see the sights and take in the splendor that only mountains can provide. 

My dad is a big fan of this quote, so much so that he had a license plate on his truck and spare tire covers on his camper that said as much.  He loves the quote because he enjoys the mountains as a place.   He has a degree in forestry after all, and many of our vacations revolved around mountains and mountain activities.  Mountains are special because special things have happened there.   So, it was a bit of a surprise when I sold his truck and camper and handed him his John Muir paraphernalia and he responded with “The mountains are nice, but we don’t have to go anywhere to enjoy life.  It’s ok just to be here and to be together.”  Life’s experiences sometimes change your outlook.

Recently we did head to the big mountains in Colorado.    And John Muir was in full force out there.  There were bumper stickers, coffee mugs, t-shirts, and keychains declaring everyone’s intent to go to the mountains.   You would think the mountains would be overrun with people clamoring to get to where ol’ John was talking about.

But they really weren’t; we saw more John Muir quotes in the REI parking lot than people on the trails deep in the woods.   We went off the beaten path, beyond the paved road and into the Pines and even above the tree line.  It was awesome and inspiring.  But we barely saw a soul.  For as many people that want to experience the call of the mountains it’s a challenge to get there.   Just ask my Dad; cancer and health problems have kept him away from the mountains.  But as he recently commented, it’s less about mountains and more about who you are with and how God gives you peace wherever you may be.  

If we aren’t all in the mountains answering the call that means we are in the valley.  Ah, the valley.  Sometimes it’s the valley of waiting.  The valley of despair.  The valley of unmet expectations.  The valley of diminished hope.  The valley of chaos or confusion.  The valley of poor health and terrible luck.  The valley is where we all look and listen for someplace else to make us feel better because valley life is the difficult life.   

And that’s why mountains speak to us; because they are above the valley that is tough living.  It’s where healing, answers, and the good life is perceived to come from.  To find happiness and meaning we have to go vertical.  Go up.

But what if I told you valley living can be done well and it’s necessary?  We don’t have to necessarily go “up”, we need to look “up” whether we are in the valley, the foothills, or the high peaks.

Years ago, before I even met Jan, I set off on a bike ride from Colorado Springs to Breckenridge, Colorado.  This was before GPS and smart phones, so I eyeballed it as best I could on a paper map and set off on a Sunday to ride there.  I think it was 130-ish miles the way I planned it and I knew of a few mountain passes along the way.

A little over halfway through the ride I crested the top of a hill and I lost my breathe; not because of the altitude but because of the arrow-straight road that stretched for many, many miles ahead of me.  I had empty bottles and an endless horizon to ride across.  Ugh.  The valley of thirst and headwinds was ahead of me and I had nothing other than hope and some prayers.

At that moment I was riding less for a place or destination but because I needed God’s presence to guide me and protect me on an exposed, flat-as-a-pancake road.  I kept pedaling and God’s presence gave me all I needed to get across to the next town and eventually I crossed the big mountain that lead me into Breckenridge.  No one explained to me that in order to get to the big mountains I’d have to cross a lonely valley.  But the finish, deep in the Rockies, was so much sweeter considering the long valley I traversed earlier in the ride.

So fellow valley-dwellers take heart.  The mountains may call but God’s in the valleys as well.  His place is beside you, not hidden in the trees of a high peak somewhere; although He can be there too!   Valley living is a destination that has purpose even when it seems so very different than the perceived “peak” life of mountains.  Many long for only the mountains but there’s good growth and purpose in the valleys.   We need God’s presence over any particular place. 

The mountains are calling and valley life is difficult.  But God’s presence is in both places.