Sunrise on Whitney!



Sunrise on the way to Mt. Whitney!

When you hit the trail at 4:00 am or was it 3:30?, and you walk in predawn darkness with nothing but the sights and sounds you can perceive with a headlamp and the closeness of companions as you head up, up, up, the only thing that is really on your mind, is your pace, will altitude take you out and will it be this dark when you return? Then as the day progresses and the nights starts disintegrating into day you pick up your little camera, and what your eye perceives, you hope it catches! It was there in the dark, and the flash spoils it, so you turn off the flash, fiddle with gloved thumbs and catch something to take home. You can't take the experience back, but when you reach out and capture a moment of God's gesture of beauty it brings back the moment, the emotion, the knowing life is important; it can save you later on! I trained for months, I was in the best physical shape of my life and Christ helped me that day to do something some people can never accomplish. Am I a mountain climber?, in the broadest sense yes, because I have been on the top of mountains, not in the narrow sense though, no ropes, chalks or desire to tackle sheer walls and I do not enjoy precipice's or dangling my legs over the edge, but I do enjoy the view! Hiking through mountains, over mountains and the smell of  pine forest is a joy for me, which challenges and draws me closer to my maker, it inspires confidence and reminds you of your vulnerability. It is something you can do solo and enjoy but it seems to be enjoyed even more when shared with others, because you just can't convey to those who were not with you, the same thing, even though I am sure that each person has a different perception, a different message with each passing step. It is important to know, that when I am alone on a walk, I am not really alone, I have a companion who sticks close, he never outpaces me, and when I tire, he sits with me and waits while I recover, and when my feet bleed, and yes, they have bled, he understands my pain and keeps me going. So while friends may fail you, he never will. Show me the path home, I am very weary, I am not sure if I will make it to the next rise, bring me through the pass over the trail summit and then to the peak as you have done before!

Whitney trail summit!

Whitney summit!

No, I didn't but this is Abagail's frowny  face!

Happy Sunday, thanks for the page views, These will get more frequent and hopefully always relevant or at least newsy!Great material coming into my life including interesting reading, and just life, I find this better than posting a status on FB, where you get mixed in with hey who is listening posts, etc, etc. and the Game feeds! Here is a thought, when life gives you lemons, find a baby and introduce it to sour, it opens up their world and gets you in lots of trouble with parents, this may only be advisable for nieces, nephews and grandchildren as they will have to understand it is all done in the spirit of education..or comedy!

Failing to plan or Planning to fail?

Now an example of poor planning

Once a Railroad to gleaming white Hotel!

I just love a catchy, cliché filled title to set up an article! But this will be another post in the battle of walking with the Lord in these interesting times. Our past Sunday sermon was on "Your Time" based on Ephesians 5:15-17 by David Sill. It is a good sermon, he has a lot more scripture references than this to back up his points and I have no criticism of the sermon, in fact it spoke to me in the challenges I have been facing, in fact the two bullet points of his talk are important notes for everyone going through their day. #1 Tyranny of the Urgent, and #2 Make the most of your time. But here is what I found as an interesting paradox for Christian's with this subject.

Tyranny of the urgent, emphasized by the scripture "Therefor be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."  He spoke of needing a plan to be successful with anything; this is also what I have been getting drilled about, with getting a business started, making a career change or taking a trip! He gave an example about preparing and planning to do a marathon, this is something that most definitely needs a plan or you will fail, you can't walk to the top of a 14,000 foot peak without a plan, we have seen what happens without that type of planning! He also used the explanation of placing rocks in a container and using them as examples of placing your most important tasks in first and letting less important tasks find a place in that scheme.We must ultimately decide what is urgent and what is essential, are the urgent things needed! The tyranny of the urgent, is also when we let too many goals play for our attention, and try to work on them all, it can make you do little or nothing as you try to do something about everything and do nothing well! Make the most of your time, wise instruction, but the end of the phrase is, "but understand what the will of the Lord is." do we know what the will of the Lord is? Does not planning itself cause us to take control, making plans for the Lord; is that God's will for us? The will of the Lord is to not participate in the sin of the world, to live a holy and blameless life taken in the direct context of this scripture. But about planning, James tells us in chapter 4,verses 13-17 that when we make plans on our own terms and goals that we are foolish to do so, because we are but vapor, we ought to say "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." and again in Matthew 6:30-34 we are enjoined to not plan but rely on faith in God's provision for us, to seek his Kingdom and His righteousness, which is the will of God,  and back to James 5:17, "Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin."  It is therefore obvious that all of the plans of a follower of Christ must be plans approved by God, within  his veil, on his terms, or they are foolish!

Try Bungee jumping without a plan!

Indeed are not all the problems of this world not built on the plans of men without the guidance or approval of the Heavenly Father! So I balance the scriptures which tell me to plan, to prepare, to count the cost with the obvious injunction that they must all be in the will of Christ's revelation to us through His word and Spirit as his direct will for our individual lives. If our lives are run by the "Tyranny of the urgent" then we must not have a plan! If we plan our lives out in advance then we have tried to violate God's sovereignty in our lives! This is a paradox until we realize we can only plan to do what we know is right each day, We can set long terms hopes and dreams, but we must be content to know that we are not able to achieve those things without them being the express will of God for our lives. That they must be looked at as fluid since we cannot know exactly what is planned for us!

It would seem then, that we must have a vision for our life if we are to follow a plan, A real vision, not just a general agreement to do good, and be bashful about our faith, but something that motivates us, "Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; Acts: 18:9 It is the vision that we must seek for our lives in order to implement a daily plan that will elevate our lives, how do we know if we are on track, if we don't know what the track is! Indeed without vision we are in the darkness! Micah 3:6 NRS "Therefore it shall be night to you, withoutvision, and darkness to you, without revelation. The sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; This will help us determine what is what is necessary to go into our daily plan first, then we can fit the urgent things in around them, we must prioritize what is needed the most and above all things we must let Christ be our guide as to what is needed. In order to do that, we must spend time in prayer, the word of God and listening! We will have to start to shut out clamoring voices, which detract from our focus on His purposes, and then the vision will become clearer and clearer! The mistake that most people will make at this point is to tell you how to do that, pastors who talk about being up first thing in the morning, with quiet time and cup of Joe, others have spoken of standing on a bathtub in order to keep from falling asleep while in study! It is not my point to tell you how, but to motivate you to get a vision, then God will give you a daily plan, because it will be different for every person and it will change as Christ changes your life! You will be ready to make the most of your time, to grab those supernatural appointments if we have a heavenly mind set. Paul reminds us in Galatians, "Those who keep sowing in the field of their old nature, in order to meet its demands, will eventually reap ruin; but those who keep sowing in the field of the Spirit will reap from the Spirit everlasting life. 9 So let us not grow weary of doing what is good; for if we don't give up, we will in due time reap the harvest. 10 Therefore, as the opportunity arises, let us do what is good to everyone, and especially to the family of those who are trustingly faithful." Gal 6:8-10


Some thoughts in conclusion, you can plan a failure, you can fail to plan at all, but without a vision and a hope man is lost! If you know Christ, if you have put your faith in his redeeming act of grace and mercy, then you can seek him and get a vision for your life and develop a plan! If you don't Know him, you can use these same ideas, get motivational books, develop yourself as a leader in this world, and develop a vision, you will be a success in this world! but, at the end of this life, you will be like the ruined  hotel on the hill, a crumbling hulk of the former glory of your life. If you come to know Jesus Christ, he will give you vision for this world and prepare you for the next, which is His plan for your life! If you want to find out how to do that follow this link! Yes, I am curious!