As I write these words, I am enjoying time at the cabin that sits on the last five acres of my Grandfather’s farm that my family owns. All my life it has been a place of peace and wonder for us. It’s located in the northern Catskill Mountains in upstate New York. This particular cluster of mountains is referred to by local residents as the Mountaintop, since the area is higher up in relation to other places within an hour’s drive.
The calm quiet up here takes my mind to Jesus going to mountaintops on occasion for prayer and peace. As I write these words, it is a pleasantly warm day. A breeze blows steadily, and tree leaves rustle softly. Nearby is a thicket of tall thistles crowned by light purple flowers. Bees, butterflies, and many other insects buzz about and settle on the small flowers for nourishment. Birds chirp and squawk steadily all about us.
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus retreated to mountaintops as well. He understood the importance of stepping away from everyday busyness to renew Himself with through the serenity and the deep peace of reflective places. There, Jesus enjoyed the presence of the Father.
Though God, Jesus was also fully human, and I am certain his earthly ministry, the travels, the teaching, the constant giving of Himself left Him fatigued. Those times on the mountaintops allowed Him time to rest and re-energize for the work that lay ahead of Him every day during His public ministry.
I’m sure those places of prayer were also filled with the things of nature indigenous to the place, showing Him the Father’s creative work in action: plants and the creatures that fed off them, animals of different sizes passing through or flying overhead. I suspect those quiet moments also took Him back to the pleasant times of his childhood days.
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That last thought applies to me as well. I’ve been coming up to the Mountaintop since I was a baby. In my younger days, this area was dotted with farms. My Grandad, my mother’s father, was a dairy farmer with a herd of about 80 beautiful Holstein cows, one bull, and an assortment other animals, including pigs and chickens.
My siblings and I share memories of those days on the Mountaintop, riding on the hay wagon when hay was baled, running and playing in the pasture fields, and helping out to the extent that grade school aged children could, like tossing leftovers into the pig pen and gathering eggs in the chicken coop. It was a wonderful change and a retreat from our ordinary summer days. The farm and its long stretches of fields for the grazing cows were endless sources of wonderment and exploration.
In addition to the peace and serenity of the mountaintops, Jesus and His followers also had wondrous experiences on those elevated places. Think of the Transfiguration, when God showed the Apostles Peter, James, and John the tiniest preview of the glory of the Lord. Those three Apostles were dazzled by the sight of Jesus glorified and conversing with Moses and Elijah and heard the Father declare in a voice like rolling thunder: “This is my chosen Son; listen to him (Lk 9:35).”
They were awestruck and moved to be silent. Other powerful Gospel accounts of mountain tops include the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus praying on a mountain before he chose the Apostles, his Ascension to Heaven from Mount Olivet, to name a few.
These days the farms are mostly gone from the Mountaintop, and tourism is the predominant business for local residents. My Grandad sold all of the farm except for a few acres since he had no heirs who wanted to take over the farm. He gave the five acres I am sitting on this afternoon to my mother.
The pastures around here have turned back into forests, but we still come to the Mountaintop regularly. Though we miss the wonderful busyness of the old farm, this is still a place of wonderment, a place that is close to nature. Today, the special and wondrous moments occur when my children and now grandchildren have the opportunity to enjoy the mountaintop as well.
As the Apostles said on the mountain with Jesus at the Transfiguration, it is good to be here. For anyone going somewhere special, whether it’s a vacation, a retreat, or a pilgrimage, I encourage seeking peace and wonderment on a spiritual level, transcending simple tourism and find the ways God is speaking to each of us during those “mountaintop” experiences.
Do not stop there, though. Seek ways to put what was gained during those peak times to work in the life of faith. Let those experiences motivate and continue to strengthen body, mind, and spirit. Pray for God’s grace to let you continue benefitting from what was gained, making the life of faith fresh and vibrant.
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God’s Word calls us to do this. “While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven (Acts 1:11-12).’” In other words, answer God’s call to live an active faith life. Most of us are not meant to be on the mountaintops permanently but rather living the daily life of faith actively.
This thought brings me to one final point. When we do return from those mountaintops, I strongly encourage making some time each day for moments of peace and wonder. Attending Mass is a perfect way to accomplish this, not just on Sundays – consider other days to worship the Lord and receive the Eucharist as well.
Also, find a quiet place for some time to, like our Lord Jesus, place ourselves in the presence of God. Stop by a Catholic chapel or church for some individual prayer and reflection, especially if the Blessed Sacrament has been exposed. Take a walk regularly to get away from the phones, laptops, and meetings for a few minutes and enjoy nature showing us the Father creative work.
I firmly believe these kind of little moments reaffirm what we gained from mountaintop experiences and nourish us to continue marching forward through God’s plan for each of us and steadily toward the destiny to which God calls each of us.