It was a little more than 60 years ago that two brave explorers, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, summitted the world鈥檚 tallest peak - Mt. Everest. Since that time both men continued to climb the giant peaks of the Himalayan Mountains and went on to various other life threatening adventures around the globe. What they accomplished was a feat attempted by many before them, and who by all known records, either failed or died trying.
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A few weeks ago, two far less brave adventurers (my wife Alison and I) decided that it was high time we took a trip of our own to the Himalayas and so undertook a sort of pilgrimage alongside many other hikers, climbers and explorers heading up the mountain trails. For two relatively inexperienced climbers who live in the desert alongside the Arabian Gulf, we were most happy with how far up the mountains we got.
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Reflecting on the climb I am reminded how important mountains - particularly stunningly high ones like Mt. Everest - are to so many religions and religious beliefs around the world. Monasteries and temples can be found scattered on high plateaus and mountain ranges around the globe, and throughout history people have not only climbed mountains to seek the divine, but constructed mountainous structures and pyramids in an effort to reach their gods.
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For some reason, even though many people in the world today have a basic belief that one can commune with God wherever and however, there is a sense or desire to ascend to high places to experience God perhaps even more so.
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On one occasion some 2000 years ago when Jesus of Nazareth was wandering about the countryside he stopped at a village well and struck up a conversation with a local woman. Without going into all the historical details about the social context here, sufficed to say by speaking to this woman Jesus was not only breaching social convention concerning gender, he was also not surprisingly crossing racial boundaries.
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At one point within what would have been a most intriguing and illuminating discussion, the woman asks about which mountain or high place they were supposed to worship God upon - a somewhat divisive issue for the people of the day. Instead of answering the question as expected, Jesus instead suggests that it actually doesn鈥檛 matter which mountain someone worships God upon, rather what is important is that they worship in 鈥榮pirit and in truth.鈥� Certainly good news for someone like me who makes his home just slightly above sea level with no mountains within sight.
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Although I hope to one day return to the Himalayas to see if I can鈥檛 make it even higher up the mountains, and perhaps even have a cup of tea in one of the most impressive mountain monasteries, it comes as deep encouragement to me, and perhaps to others, that doing so will by no means get me closer to God. He is here in our midst ready and willing to meet those who seek him in spirit and in truth.
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Peter Lublink is completing his Masters in Theological Studies with a focus on the peace teachings of Jesus while living and working in The Middle East with his wife Alison. Prior to packing up their bags and moving, Alison and Peter lived and worked in the beautiful city of Victoria, BC, leading a church community with The Salvation Army. Follow him on twitter: twitter.com/peterlublink.
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