Mountain Climbing

 The mountain climber carries a lot of weight to climb a mountain. He carries gear and tools and even ropes. He carries food and water and dry socks. It takes a lot of work and a lot of gear to successfully climb a mountain.

But, what about once you have climbed that mountain? Once you are sitting on the top, what do you need? For a while at least, you need nothing. You can take your pack off and just sit there enjoying the view. You can take a selfie to prove that you made it. You do not need to carry your gear once you have arrived.

This is true of life. As we age we find that the things that were so important when we were younger do not matter at all now. We find that there is much less life yet to live as to make us stop putting off things for a later day. That later day is today. It is time to stop worrying about your bank account and your weight. If you are a widow it is time to stop thinking about getting married. You have too little life left to spend it on what have become unimportant pursuits.

This is hard to do in our youth orientated Fellowship. It always about go ye and fasting and striving for perfection instead of surveying how far we have come and how good God has been to us. I am not planning for my next big achievement or my next adventure. I am wondering what to do when I can no longer take care of my house on my own. Where to live when I cannot take care of myself anymore.

In mountain climbing, the only way to succeed is to climb higher. However, you cannot live on a mountain top. So we see that life is not all upward and onward, it involves climbing back down and going back home. For me, this is what retirement is all about. Climbing down and returning home.