Image from riotexas.org
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’ So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, ‘Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.’ Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. (Exodus 24:12-18)
In my humble opinion, the Texas Hill Country has mountains. I know the definition of a "real" mountain would say that none of the "hills" we possess are high enough to be "mountains," but in spiritual terms, they have served me and many, well. My first experience in the hill country was at Mount Wesley in Kerrville, Texas, with my parents who attended a yearly Rio Grande Conference Young Adult event. I remember staying in one of the cabins, doing a lot of walking, time spent at Vesper Point, even making the trek up the mountain to pray at the Bolivian cross. Years passed and I started attending there alone at youth assembly for the RGC with hundreds of other youth. And some years later, Mt. Wesley would serve as the mother camp for Walks to Emmaus, where in 1985 I attended Walk 22. Each mountaintop experience has blessed my life. And I define a mountaintop experience as one where we set time apart to spend with God. That factors in our heritage as Judeo-Christians. Todays's passage is set on Mount Sinai where Moses spent time alone with God and received the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, written for our good. It took faith to follow God out of slavery and into the wilderness; it took faith to travel forty years trusting God, but for Moses, it took a lot of faith to climb up that mountain to spend time alone with God. First, six days covered in this cloud, then 40 days and nights, listening to God. That's a mountaintop experience.
Let me make clear one does not need a mountain nor a hill to have a mountaintop experience. It can happen anywhere; your dining room table, your breakfast table, your easy chair, your sofa; anywhere you intentionally set aside time to listen to God will be the setting for that experience. And mountaintop experiences start with faith, prayer, scripture reading and reflection, praise singing (or humming); anything in which you seek the presence and peace of the Lord. And why are mountaintop experiences needed? Those "highs" in faith help us with our "lows." As often as we've spoken or heard spoken of mountaintop experiences, we have also heard about "valleys" and the lows of faith where the challenges of life, trails, testings, illnesses, losses, etc., come into our lives and pull us down. It is the mountaintop experiences that lift us up and help us live life trusting and securely believing in God.
Whatever you may be facing, dear friend, please know that God is with you. It may be you haven't set time apart with God for some time so, today may be that day when you seek God's presence and peace. Listen to God; remember we pray and then we say Amen, which I define as "It's Your turn, God! I'm listening!"
PRAYER: Loving God, I lift up this dear reader to your loving care. You know what to do in that precious life and I claim it for them in Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
Here they are again: ConCafe Off the Cuff Video at (click on this link): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKTsI2g7QAk&t=8s
