“Great men climb mountains,” my Grandfather was known to say.
This adage has always stirred my soul; mountains inspire me.
First, there’s the climb. There is something ennobling about making an ascent. One knows the hike will be difficult, but that is precisely the point-it is a chosen challenge, a deliberate decision to do something hard, to push one’s self from a lower state to something higher, something greater. Therein is the rush, the allure-the magic.
Next, there’s the journey. With every step, the world and its commotion gently fade further and further away. Noise becomes muted, and nagging stress is swallowed up in the majesty of the trees, the rocks, and the cliffs. The further one hikes, the more clearly one can see-both with their eyes and their heart. The quiet beauty of nature invites a new, higher perspective.
Finally, the panorama. Oh, the thrill of the mountain peak! It defies description; it can only be known by experience. With weary legs, one now knows the triumph of perseverance. And how sweet the reward! Things that once seemed large and formidable in daily life are now but a speck on the horizon below.
The climb. The journey. The panorama.
Climbing mountains changes us.
It is little wonder that mountains are nature’s temples-places where the ancients came to know God and His greatness.
They too had to climb and journey to receive their panoramic view.
Moses and Nephi both had their own “exceedingly high mountain” (Moses 1:1) (1 Nephi 11:1).
To Enoch, the Lord said “Turn ye, and get ye upon the mount Simeon,” (Moses 7:2).
The Savior took Peter, James, and John to “an high mountain apart” (Matthew 17:1).
Herein we have a pattern and a call, just as the Lord’s voice to Nephi: “Arise, and get thee into the mountain,” (1 Nephi 17:7).
Mountains can have many forms:
We can seek to climb physical mountains.
We can seek our own high mountain experience in the Lord’s holy temple.
More often, we can (and must) climb metaphorical mountains in our daily life.
Of this, President Russell M. Nelson has taught:
“Your mountains may be loneliness, doubt, illness, or other personal problems. Your mountains will vary, and yet the answer to each of your challenges is to increase your faith.”
Each of us has our own unique mountains to climb. May we climb them together, and may we do so by increasing our faith-knowing that we will receive Divine strength along the way. It is this power that will propel us upward as we climb and journey to our own panoramic view upon the mountain top.
As our beloved Prophet has promised: “The Savior is never closer to you than when you are facing or climbing a mountain with faith.”
