It is a stunningly beautiful day, the day of another mountaintop experience. This time, a first gondola ride to the mountain summit. Prayer and pacing begin as we approach the gondola. We climb in. Fervent prayer begins as odd sounds and jerks help us begin our ascent. Facing the mountain, breathing shallow, then fear sets in. We stop moving.
We hang there slightly over the tops of glistening pine trees. Creaking, swaying back and forth in the wind. “This happens all the time,” is little comfort. Like the disciples in a wind-battered boat, crying out in fear. A few minutes-a lifetime. Eyes close, deep breathing reaching deeper still. Adrenalin-boosted prayer is searching for God: give me reassurance, breathe your life in me, settle this moment of fear.
And like the disciples, we search for Jesus, attempting to trust that God is there all along, reaching out to us, and asking that we not be afraid.
Lord God, you hear the cries of all people and on the day of trouble you calm us with words of everlasting hope. You have answered, you are present, and you help us conquer our fears, replacing them with trust and hope so that we can reach summits beyond our imagining. Amen. — FS