My Own Mt. Hood

I watched the news today and like most of America said a quick "Thank you, Lord" when they found the hikers and they were all okay or at least still alive. The newscasters, at least some of them, are having a field day. They are making fun, mocking,and condemning the hikers. Disparaging remarks about the hikers' intelligence, common sense, skill and even character are being thrown around like beads at Mardi Gras. Remember it was not so very long ago, that three hikers lost their lives up on the same mountain. And for those weeks in December, just like today, the world watched and prayed and chronicled the rescue attempts. And we all hoped beyond hope only to be disappointed. Now, more have been lost. This time the ending is a happy one and yet, it could have been another heartache.
Like many others, I am asking, "what were they thinking?" I am sure they were not living in a box. Surely, they heard and watched the news last December.Surely they knew the sad outcome and knew how dangerous the mountain was. Maybe they entered into this adventure with great confidence, thinking, "we can do it, we know more than the others and we are better prepared, we are in a bigger group and we are even taking our dog". And yet, the storm still came, they still were lost and in need of rescue. The news says they are in fairly good condition and will suffer few ill effects.
I think we are a lot like these hikers. We see the mountain of sin before us. We know about the dangers. We know that sin injures marriages and maims families. We know that sin decimates congregations and causes relationships to be severed. We know that sometimes, sin causes death. And that it effects not just the sinner but also those who love them. And we know when that happens, God grieves.
And yet, we sit around and look at the sin. We get as close as we can to it, as if almost daring it to reach out and take us. We think about it, read about it, even long for it and finally we talk ourselves into it. We begin to prepare for our trek up the mountain of sin. We concoct our lies to cover our actions. We convince ourselves that the death and damage offered by the mountain, "could never happen to us". We distance ourselves from those who would provide a voice of reason. We bathe ourselves in justification and loophole theology. And then. . .we sin. Sometimes, we wise up and turn around. But sometimes, we see the decadence and the opulence of sin and convince ourselves that this is the experience of a lifetime. We keep climbing, oblivious to the ominous clouds rolling in and before we know it, we are lost. There are no landmarks in sight and the fog of sin is so thick we can barely breathe. We shout for help, only to hear the familiar echoing of our own voice. We know that our congregation has sent out brothers and sisters on a rescue mission. Our thoughts fluctuate from the shame of our predicament to the hope of rescue. We pray they find us in time, before we no longer have any feeling in our hearts or our spirits. We know that we have played with death and we are aware that sometimes death wins.
The clouds part for a brief moment, just long enough for our rescuers to see us at a distance. We begin to shout in earnest and we weep as we see them coming closer and closer. We walk down the mountain with our family, supported by friends on either side. Occasionally, they carry us as we are too weak to make it to safety on our own.
When we are home, we vow to never go up the mountain again. And as we sit outside looking at the beautiful mountain in the distance, for one brief moment we think, "I think I could make it if only. . . "

Neva
Rom. 8:13 "For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die . . ."