Valley Living

There is a cynical statement that is often heard.
Education is wasted on the young.
Though I believe that statement is false, I can understand the sentiment.
The disciplines that are needed to be educated successfully are often missing.

Poor study habits, procrastination, missed assignments are too often true.
An attitude of indifference, viewing learning as more of an assignment than an adventure.
Learning is something you do for a test, not something you do for life.
A ho-hum experience that is usually described as boring.

As you get older, you tend to see the value of education.
Tests are a thing of the past.
You begin to learn for the sake of learning.
There is a desire to know.

I was a good student, but I didn’t like certain subjects.
Geography and history were two of my least favorite subjects.
Math was right up there as well.
English, however, reading books and writing, was exciting and challenging for me.

Subjects that I never liked back then, I really enjoy now.
I have taught myself many things since I have finished school.
Those things tend to be the ones I remember most.
Whether age or preference, learning something that really interests you is an adventure.

I never thought about how often we use geography terms in every day life.
People talk about hitting a plateau as they are dieting.
Times of refreshment are referred to as an oasis.
A particularly futile undertaking is described as wallowing in quicksand.

We have islands in our kitchens.
Smaller kitchens may only have a peninsula.
In summer, when there is minimal rain, we may say it is as dry as a desert.
If two people disagree, they speak of a canyon of difference between them.

Geography terms are part of our everyday language.
Two terms specifically are widely understood.
We cannot appreciate one without the other.
We tend to prefer one over the other.

Mountaintops and Valleys.

After six days, Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said, to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him. “When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” He said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (Matthew 17:1-9)

The mountaintop was where God allowed Jesus’ glory to be seen.
The glory that had been there all along was now visible.
God pulled back the veil that obscured their sight and allowed them to see.
What a mountaintop experience.

But they couldn’t stay there on the mountain.
As much as they wanted to, they just couldn’t stay.
They had to eventually go down the mountain.
Life is lived in the valley.

A valley is a low place between mountains.
Those low places are where we spend most of our time.
In the valleys we learn to look up.
We live down here; we look up there.

It is tempting to park ourselves on the mountaintop.
Things seem so much clearer up there.
Everything seems to make sense.
There is clarity on the mountain that we don’t have in the valley.

Jesus knew that He and Peter, James, and John needed to come down.
A boy that was demon possessed needed to be set free.
What you learn on the mountain, you practice in the valley.
You live in the low place with your eyes on the high place.

In C.S. Lewis’ book, The Silver Chair, Jill Pole is told what she must do.
As she leaves Narnia, she must remember the Signs; the things that Aslan told her.
Aslan warns her that things will look very different when she comes down the mountain.
She has to purpose in her heart to remember what she learned there.

But, first, remember, remember, remember the Signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the Signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear, as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the Signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the Signs and believe the Signs. Nothing else matters. (The Silver Chair, by C.S.Lewis)

The air is clear on the mountain, but you can’t stay there.
Life is lived in the valley.
Repeat what you have learned on the mountaintop; say it over and over to yourself.
Rehearse what you know so that appearances in the valley do not confuse your mind.

Valley living with mountain gazing.
Living here.
Looking there.
Repeating the Signs.

Nothing else matters.