When Mountain Time Fails

We are heading into the time of year when many of us have opportunities for time off. (With apologies to life guards, camp staff, and parents with children home from school...) Whether you are a teacher with much of the summer off or new at the corporation with only two weeks vacation, most of us take some time off in the summer. For work weary souls, vacation, retreat, and time away is what we anticipate this time of year.

Anticipate doesn't fully capture the mood for me. I look forward to it months in advance. I imagine how good it will be when things are finally wrapped up and I am leaving the office. I dream about not dealing with the deadlines, meetings, and other stresses. Vacation is that time in my psyche when all will be well.

A Failed Vacation

I recently spent some time at my parents home on the shores of Lake Michigan. It is my geo-spiritual home, the place where I am most able to relax, recreate and renew. There is a combination of history, beauty, and peace there that usually soothes my soul. I have visited those waters every year of my life. The lake, horizon and beach are spectacular. The house has enough nooks and crannies to hide and protect me when my introverted nature cries for solitude.

More than just a nice vacation spot, Michigan is the place I am more aware of God's presence. Renewal comes not just because of the beauty and being away from stress. My soul is refreshed with anticipation because I expect to find God there.

On a recent visit to Michigan, I experienced something different. I was there for a few days of calm before a storm of activity. But throughout the weekend, I experienced less the peace of Christ, and more of my old nemesis, anxiety. My dis-ease was compounded by the incongruity of it all. How could I be anxious here? I became anxious about being anxious. I added to the fear with thoughts of my return home. I can't afford to be stressed here – life will be crazy when I return home. Here is where I need to feel God's presence.

It was vacation and all was not well.

Gifts on the Mountain

Moses showed up in the lectionary about then. In the passage for that week, he goes up to the mountain, called by God. (I'm convinced he was thrilled with the invitation. Who wouldn't want some mountain time after trying to lead the whining, bickering , 'We would have been much better off back in Egypt' Hebrews). Moses needed the mountain time as much as any of us need time away from the stress of our lives.

What struck me in this reading was God's intention for Moses' retreat. More important than the time way, God had something to give Moses. Up there on the mountain, God presents Moses with the law and directions for building the Ark of the Covenant. Both were symbols of God's presence with the Israelites away from the mountain. The Ark was like an early version of the Holy Spirit – close by, to guide, comfort and give instruction in this wandering phase of the Hebrew's lives. They were to bring the Ark with them into battle as reminders of The Presence. This time away for Moses was about much more than the mountain time itself.

God is Already Where We Are Going

We put such pressure on our mountain time. Whether talking about daily devotions, church, vacation or retreat, we can subtly seek to control God. 'OK God, I've taken this time out of my busy schedule. Give me something – presence, inspiration, 'the answer', whatever –  and I need it NOW. Let me make this clear for you God. This little piece of time – the 20 minutes in my day, my one week of vacation – it's all I have before life again speeds up. With all due respect, GIVE ME WHAT I NEED NOW.'

We plead our case – and nothing happens.

Sometimes mountain time fails. Actually it almost always does, if by failure we mean we don't get all that we hoped for. We never leave the mountain with all needs met – the perfect balance of time alone/ time with others; all the questions clarified; complete renewal and readiness for the busyness of our lives.

What we are given is the reminder that, as we reenter, God comes along. We don't leave God on the mountain, beach, forest or city. The Ark of the Covenant, God-with-us, is already where we are going. More able than we can ever imagine to meet our needs off the mountain, in the wanderings and battles of everyday life.

I hope you are looking forward to some vacation time this summer. Even more, I hope you plan some places and spaces where you can more easily be found by God. If you get all you need in those mountain times, wonderful. If not, relax. Relax and look for signs of The Presence off the mountain.

Doug Wysockey Johnson is pastor of Jericho Covenant Church near Burlington VT.