A Peek Over the Mountains
“In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?” Psalm 11:1 KJV
It was a cool morning in the mountains. I was sitting in an outdoor picnic pavilion that faced the mountains. I was here attending an Easter sunrise service. The cold metal chairs were arranged so they would peer out onto the mountains. A cool, steady breeze swept across us. There were some older ladies sitting next to us that covered themselves with a blanket. As I could sense the coldness overtaking my hands, I handed my wife the gloves I had in my coat pocket. Then my hands retreated into those same pockets where those gloves once rested. Eventually warmth and feeling returned to my hands.
Staunton, Virginia is one of those quaint little mountain viewing towns. It is quite hilly, as you soon discover when you walk, or should I say climb, up one of the side streets. He was born here, on what was then the outskirts of town. If he looked out his front window he would only have seen trees. Today, all he would see would be houses.
His Dad was a Presbyterian minister and if he looked out the back of the house he could have seen the steeple of the church he led. It is a Presbyterian College, Mary Baldwin College, today. The church moved across the street and if you look out the back of the house today it is a very scenic view, as the steeple of this newer church blends in with the brick buildings.
He doesn’t get mentioned much in the Bible. When he was introduced to people he probably got a lot of, “Oh! You’re the brother of ….” He was a fisherman, just like most members of his family. The Bible doesn’t really state whether he was the older or younger brother of his more famous sibling. But why does he get special mention?
As I sat for the Easter Service, the sun had already risen and there was no magical blast of colors crossing the sky. With the mountains in the background, that indeed would have made a striking memory. No, the sun just peeked over the mountains, giving us just enough light to notice its direction.
I couldn’t help but think about life as I looked in the mountains’ direction. My life sometimes has those moments where I have mountains of despair. The mountains seem to get higher and higher as I try to fix things myself. Everyday duties don’t afford me the luxury of being able to reflect on that toll. I huff and I puff in my exhaustive effort to get to the top and conquer this climb.
The world was in crisis. It was the war to end all wars. For re-election he campaigned that he had kept us out of that war, yet now he had gotten us into it. It was World War I. Now that the war was over, Woodrow Wilson began pushing his idea of a League of Nations. Congress was pushing back because they opposed the idea. He took to the streets to campaign directly to the people. He pushed and campaigned hard.
He suffered a stroke on this trip and it left him paralyzed. Many people even questioned his mental capacity. His wife would not even allow anyone to see him for the rest of his term. If he had papers to sign, they would hand them to her and she would get him to sign them. Many wonder, for the last year and a half of his presidency, if it might be his wife, not him, who was really running the country.
At the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, in Staunton, Virginia, there are papers written by Dr. Cary T. Grayson, one of the close physicians attending to Wilson. They seem to confirm what everyone suspected, Mrs. Wilson was actually running the country at the time. So at a time when we were coming through a tough transition period after a war, she was the sun light peeking over our mountains watching over us. We just didn’t realize it.
Andrew often gets lumped together with the other eleven of Jesus’s disciples. To most, his greatest claim to fame is that he is Peter’s brother. We hear a lot about Peter throughout the New Testament and very little about Andrew. But Andrew was the little peek over the mountains of the disciples. You see, there is one very important story about Andrew. Andrew introduced his brother Peter to Jesus. Andrew, too, was probably that peek of sunshine. He saw what was best for the group more than he worried about standing out in the crowd and getting noticed.
As I watched the sun over the mountains, I’m not sorry I missed the beautiful colors. No, I’m glad for the view that I have. If I could look at my mountain of problems from this angle, I could see God peeking over them like the sun shining over the mountains and I would know all is good.
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, The mountains are beautiful. Thank You for all those in my life that have watched over me, even when I may not have noticed. Most of all, thank Your for watching over me. Amen.
