5 ways to look at mountains
“So, big mountain, who do you think you are? Next to Zerubbabel you're nothing but a molehill.” (Zechariah 4:7)
While on a flight to Portland, Oregon almost 14 years ago, I looked out the window and my jaw dropped at the sight of Mount Hood — so close it felt as if I could touch it (see photo above).
Moments like that make it easy to love mountains but these geological wonders often go overlooked by most Homo sapiens.
Born in the glorious violence of tectonic plates pressing against each other until the land lifts and folds over itself, mountains link the sky to the ocean floor.
They have fueled human (and non-human) imaginations since, well… forever.
Here are 5 ways to perceive a mountain…
1. Thirst-Quenching: Did you know that mountains provide 60 to 80 percent of all freshwater resources for our planet?
2. Diverse: In just the Colorado Rockies alone, you’ll find quails, turkeys, coyotes, deer, moose, mountain lions, black bears, badgers, squirrels, bison, rattlesnakes, geese, eagles, elks, sheep, wolves, and more.
3. Blown Up in Search of Profits: This is not about starting a debate over fossil fuels. No matter where you plant your ideological flag, mountaintop mining is a scourge upon our planet, e.g.
4. Muses: Mountains regularly inspire art and creation including what is surely the best 34-minute rock song ever:
5. NOT Insurmountable: Mountains are awe-inspiring gifts. If we remain open to it, they display to us the majestic power of nature. But there are even greater forces, as highlighted in Mark 11:23 — a verse to recall every time you feel powerless:
“Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.”
Hug a mountain, thank a mountain, love a mountain, appreciate a mountain, save a mountain, or move a mountain… today.
mountains are marvellous. I love nature docs about them, but would not want to live there. One forgets it is quite hard to get around in wintertime. When moving a couple to a mountainous area, we had to carry their furniture up a steep slope. That will teach you ! At the time I was living near a place called Twin Peaks, and questioning why this name, it turned out there had once been 2 peaks, one of them almost completely cut down for mining.... the place was still beautiful but the death of that mountain somehow made me sad.
It just takes faith the size of a Mustard seed and you can move a mountain!