As I Walk……
A Laypersons Journey to Understanding
by “Un Recipiente Vacío”
Welcome to a commentary on issues and thoughts on faith, belief and religious understanding from a non- professional perspective. Opinions expressed are my own and may reflect your understanding of religious thought or may be totally off the wall. The intent is to stimulate reflection and not to restate orthodoxy.
“As I walk…”plays on the theme as faith as a journey. For me it also speaks to a time of reflection. Our modern society seems so busy. We are so connected, not so much to each other, but to a pulsating faceless mass of humanity. Walking, I think, gives us some time to reflect and consider complex issues and to see individual faces in the blurred bubble of technology that we live in at the beginning of the 21st century.
Mountains play an important role in our bible readings. Abraham and Isaac, the 10 Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount quickly come to mind. What is so special about the mountain imagery? Is it about the seemingly unchanging nature of mountains and by extension, God? It is about “little” us versus “big” God? Is it about the struggle to surmount and overcome the challenges that a mountain represents? Is it about the trail that we follow in our journey up the mountain or is it our path through the valley below?
Journeys seem to represent more than just a trip. Greater preparation, often to an unfamiliar destination. Perhaps greater expectations. Always in need of a map.
As a person of faith, my primary map, the Bible, is a bit old, some say outdated while others say timeless, accurate and infallible. Whatever the Bible means to you, it is what we have, along with over 2000 years of professional and lay direction and interpretation.
I invite you, in the weeks to come, to walk with me on the road of life and to ponder with me the nature of faith, belief and religious experience.
I would like to end this week with a short quote, again touching on the mountain theme, from the last speech given by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, April 3, 1968.
“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop.
And I don’t mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”
Un Recipiente Vacío
Further Reading:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm
