Monique M. Keller
On a recent trip, we had the privilege to take a road trip to the Dragon. The dragon known as the Drakensberg mountain range stretches for 1125 kilometers through South Africa. The views are unending. One can not see the start or end of the magnificent mountain range at one specific place. It is only when walking through thick, lush forests, on open grasslands, climbing ever higher… Only when moving forward and climbing higher does the vantage point enlarge and one sees clearer.
Not only does the view becomes clearer but the senses twitch with anticipation, unable to wait to see and experience what is around the next green or rocky bend.
I must be honest, life feels like a climb and often an upwards slog especially when we walk out of what is safe and comfortable. To heed the call to move away from spiritual stagnation in obedience to the unfamiliar magnetic pull of the promise to have a better tomorrow, to give our children a great future, to achieve the dreams and ambitions. I experience the unceasingly knocking on the heart door viscerally. Nothing less than a life lived where the full potential is reached.
In these moments of sweat and effort of taking the climb our senses are on high alert which may cause a sense of anxiety. Overwhelmed. Heart racing. Sweaty palms. Is this not where we are stretched and grow?
There must be a balance, correct? This balance between striving and resting, planning and being still I do not know how to achieve yet. What I have briefly tasted in taking the climb is a harmony of full expression and also realized that shame is the paradoxical result that comes from a brave heart. To say it clearer…the people who wish us well and support the climbing, are the true heroes. There will be people who shame others for climbing.
Sharing my thoughts with you is becoming like food and water. The only reason I hesitate to write is when the content is not a direct result of an experience of faith in God or when my words are filled with ego. I then hesitate and reflect as I know the truth will set us free and we will not live by bread and water alone but by every word that flows from the living and loving Father who also found His solitude on the highest mountains.
So move forward, climb the tough mountains in life, because, amidst the sweat, hours of dedication, and critics, the views remain the best from the peak of the mountains.
With love always,
Monique
