I TRIED TO CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN TODAY



I tried to climb the mountain today. As I inched my way up the path, I felt overwhelmed, so I had to turn back.

I tried to climb the mountain today. On my journey, darkness started to fall, and I was full of fear, so I had to return to a safe place.

I was ready to climb the mountain today. But it was so hot outside, I thought I better stay in my nice air-conditioned house and rest up for tomorrow's attempt.

I was about to climb the mountain today. But I had so many other things to do, so instead of climbing the mountain I took care of much more important tasks. I washed my car, mowed the grass and watched the big game. Today the mountain will just have to wait.

I was going to climb the mountain today. But as I stared at the mountain in it's majestic beauty, I knew I stood no chance of making it to the top, so I figured why even bother trying.

I have forgotten about climbing the mountain today; until a friend came by and asked me what I was up to lately. I told him I was thinking about climbing that mountain some day. I went on and on about how I was going to accomplish this task.

Finally, he said, "I just got back from climbing the mountain. For the longest time I told myself I was trying to climb the mountain but never made any progress. I almost let the dream of making it to the top die. I came up with every excuse of why I could not make it up the mountain, but never once did I give myself a reason why I could. One day as I stared at the mountain and pondered, I realized that if I didn't make an attempt at this dream all my dreams will eventually die."

"The next morning, I started my climb." He continued, "It was not easy, and at times I wanted to quit. But no matter what I faced, I placed one foot in front of the other, keeping a steady pace. When the wind tried to blow me over the edge, I kept walking. When the voices inside my head screamed "stop!" I focused on my goal never letting it out of sight, and I kept moving forward. At times, I was ready to quit, but I knew I had come too far. Time and time again, I reassured myself that I was going to finish this journey. I struggled to make it to the top, but I climbed the mountain!"

"I have to be going," my friend said. "Tomorrow is a new day to accomplish more dreams. By the way, what are you going to do tomorrow?"

I looked at him, with intensity and confidence in my eyes, and said, "I have a mountain to climb."

- Gary Barnes
You can visit Gary’s site, Self-Worth.com at: http://www.self-worth.com

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

James 1:2-4 ESV

Parable of Distrust



This is a story about a man called Joseph, who had the misfortune to get caught in a serious flood. The water was rising all around him and was soon up to his knees. He climbed the staircase to the first floor but still the water rose. It wasn't long before the water was up to his waist and he looked out of the window to see what was happening to his neighbours.

A boat was passing and the occupant shouted, "Hey, Joseph! Quick, climb aboard my boat and I will take you to safety." Joseph smiled and replied, "Thank you very much, but I have had a word with God and he will take care of me. You use the space on your boat to help others less fortunate than myself." Soon the boat was out of sight.

The flood would not stop and the water continued to climb. Joseph was forced onto the roof of his home and he surveyed the catastrophe below him.

A helicopter flew over Joseph and a man used his microphone to tell Joseph that worse was yet to come. He threw a rope down to Joseph and cried, "Quick Joseph, climb up while you still have a chance!" Nevertheless, Joseph had been a good man all his life and placed his faith in the Lord, so he declined the offer, requesting that they go in search of other people. "You don't have to worry about me," he shouted, "I have spoken with God and he will not let me die."

The helicopter flew away and the waters rose and rose until finally it was all over. Joseph was taken from this earth.

As stated earlier, Joseph was a good man, so naturally he was taken to the pearly gates to meet St. Peter. On entering heaven he was taken and introduced to God who welcomed him with open arms. But, Joseph was not content and asked God, "I am confused my Lord. I have been a devout follower my entire life, and never once have I strayed from your chosen path. I believe I was too young to die now. I prayed to you and asked you to save me, but my faith let me down. How could you have been so cruel?"

And the Lord replied, "What do you mean I let you down? I sent you a boat to save you, and a helicopter as well."

Author Unknown

 “Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.”

Psalm 25:1, 2

Illusions

Does this image appear to be moving?  Especially in your peripheral vision?

It's actually a static image, fixed and unmoving, but the design tricks our mind into believing otherwise. 

Is the center square green?  When you remove the background (brown) and the other remaining colors, you find that the center square is actually gray/black.

We must be very careful as we look at things in our lives, because our minds like to play tricks on us.  What we think we see, may not be what is actually there. Or when we look more closely, we may find images that we didn't first identify.

This is true, not only for this type of game that we play, but also for the relationships in our lives.  We only see the pieces that we look for, or that we're allowed to see.  Most of us hide a major portion of ourselves. This is to protect us from the daily damage that can be done by those around us, whether intentional or not. 

When I was teaching fourth grade, I placed a paper heart on the corner of each child's desk every morning.  When something happened to hurt that child in any way, they would tear a piece of their heart off.  All the pieces were kept in a special place in their desk and if something should happen during the day that made them feel good or better, they could put a piece back on their heart.  This was a signal to me and to their classmates what kind of day they were having.

The idea was to help us all recognize that even the tiniest thing said to someone else, even if the intention was good, can cause pain and damage to others.  Depending on other people and actions by them toward this person, a simple statement from us could be the 'final straw' on their stack of feelings for the day. If we saw that their heart had been torn to a very little piece left, we knew to reach out and help that person by extending a little extra kindness toward them.

The final lesson was that we started fresh every day.  When the day was over, there was nothing that could be done to undo it.  But tomorrow is a fresh start, a do-over.  With hope in our hearts, anything is possible.  

I was always amazed at the hearts by the time we went outside for our first recess:  10:00 a.m.  Many of those little hearts had been torn quite a bit in the first two hours of their day, some before they even got to school.  

I'm not sure that the long-term effects of this lesson were substantial for any of my kids, but at least during their year with me, more than just the 3 R's were addressed.  I've never understood how teachers and administrators believe you can address learning math or reading or science if your heart and your soul are hurting.  I'm not saying that one is more important than the other, I'm saying that you must address both to really help the child...or the adult.

I recently had a conversation with a man who is in the midst of some issues with the people that he works with.  He told me that he had been hearing the same thing from them for thirty years...they feel unappreciated, they feel they don't matter to him, they feel that what they do doesn't matter.  This man is very intelligent, is very strong, but when it comes to reaching people (and he's in the people business) he can't see their hearts.  He addresses the building and the program, but he doesn't know how to reach the people where it matters.  He feels badly about it, but he's lost in what to do.  

He sees the illusion, he sees the peripheral, but he doesn't see what's behind it.  It doesn't mean that he doesn't want to, he just never learned how and now, after thirty years in this business, he's wondering if he ever will. 

What he doesn't understand, is that to really see, he's going to have to make himself vulnerable.  He's going to have to open HIS heart and soul.  He can't get others to open theirs to him, if he's not willing to do the same.  That's the part people struggle with.  They've been hurt and let down so many times over the years that they have built a wall around their heart so that no one care tear it again.  The problem with this is that, while it does protect you, it also keeps you from the joy and the fun that you could also have, if you just take down the walls and take a chance. 

People like illusions.  They like to play the games of the mind, unless those games involve relationships with those closest to us.  Then they want sincerity and gentleness.  They want to know that when they risk extending their heart, that you will recognize their vulnerability and keep them safe.  Their hope is that you will see beyond the illusion to what is real and love them, all of them, anyway.