Top of the world

Over the week-end I read Jeffery Archer's book The Paths of Glory based on the true story of George Mallory's attempts to scale Mt Everest in the early 1920s. It is not known for certain that he actually attained the peak, because he perished in his last effort, and indeed his body was not found until 1999. But he and his climbing partner were seen from below at a height of about 600 feet from the top. So it was reasonable to conclude that he was the first man to conquer the mountain. That conjecture was further substantiated when, upon the discovery of his body, the black/white photo of his wife, ever-present in his wallet, was not among his personal effects. He had promised her, in a letter, that when he reached the summit, he would leave her picture there. Of course it has not been found.

At the time Mallory and his team were mounting these expeditions (pardon the pun), it was not known whether or not human beings could survive above 25,000 feet (Everest was 29,002'). Airplanes had not even flown higher than that at the time. Nor was it known if bottled oxygen could be "legitimately" used to preserve the amateur status of the climbers. But one thing was known: the summit of Mt Everest represented "the top of the world," the highest point on the surface of the earth.

Mallory, the son of a clergyman, was not a particularly religious man. But one wonders if the breath-taking vistas he encountered in the Alps and the Himalayas, the exceedingly courageous determination of his fellow travelers, and the unstinting tests of personal endurance did not leave a spiritual footprint on him.

Once in a while I hear someone say, "When I look at the mountains, or see a sunset, or hear the crashing of the ocean's waves on the rocks, I can't imagine how anyone could doubt there is a God." Evidently, many people can do just that. Nature, as wondrous as it is, may not lead us to God. That requires something more. The Spirit of God is needed, if we are to look to the hills and think of God. The Spirit of God is needed if we are to see, in the faces of our fellow travelers, evidence of the divine image among us.

So in our praying for others, and for ourselves as witnesses for God, we ask for the Spirit of God to be present and to guide.