The Mountain Inside.

There is a place in every soul where God dwells.

I often go there in the quiet of the morning when there are no noises: mentally, physically or emotionally to distract me from hearing the still, small Voice.

I can become complacent with knowing about God, writing about God, and working for God. It seems possible to perform each of these tasks without truly spending time with God nourishing the soul; nourishing the relationship; and nourishing the heart. It is like any relationship, whether it is with a spouse or a child, we can go through the day to day routine of being a spouse or parent and still miss a deeper connection with the one we love and who loves us. We can get so caught-up with life’s demands that the demands take precedence over the relationship and the love that lies beneath. And yet, when we can remove ourselves from the "noises" we often can hear the deeper voice of love and see the sacredness of the person.

Just the other day I encountered an elderly man with cerebral palsy lying in the street where he had fallen from the sidewalk. For a split second I allowed all the "noises" of the day to be silenced and I found myself with my arms around this stranger where we connected to the sacred in one another.

It was a gift to the both of us where the sacred moment carried us through the remainder of our busy day.

I was thinking about my marriage. We can function as a couple and tend to the routines that we find ourselves in and miss the deeper part of our relationship by not being quiet and just holding each other or sitting quietly on a park bench or sharing a root beer float in silence. It is often in those quiet times when we are not “doing” and are just “being” that we can return to the love that we are. Where we are quiet enough to hear the love within calling out reminding us of whom and what we are. Healthy relationships require tending to the sacred of one another’s soul so that we won’t get lost in demands of life.

This is true with God.

I think this may be one reason going to the mountain was some important to Jesus. Going to the place where he could just be still and know the God who dwells within. His life seemed to be lived from the core where God dwells. In other words, he lived from the inside out as opposed to living from the outside in. In order to live from the inside out it required him to remove himself from the noises of the day and return to Love where he remembered who he was; where he could hear Love’s healing voice ; where he could simply be still and know God and therefore, himself; his true identity.

When I go to the mountain in my soul I always find God there waiting for me.
Jesus could not be who he was without spending a little time at the mountain each day; neither can I.