I recently finished Hinds' Feet on High Places, and also read the "Lessons" and autobiography at the end. When I was younger I never read prologues, epilogues, autobiographies, anything like that. As I've gotten older, I've begun reading these and have found that often these "added" sections can contain rare gems and interesting insights that would otherwise be overlooked by the reader. This definitely held true with Hinds' Feet. While the book itself was totally amazing, don't get me wrong, the section at the end - "Lessons Learned on the Slopes of the High Places" - was intriguing and awe-inspiring. In this section the author spoke of her experiences during a two-week period spent on the Swiss Alps that led to her "call" to write in the first place. It connected a lot of dots, was very fascinating, and true to its name contained some beautiful lessons. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites here on the blog.
In this lesson, she is speaking of the fickle mountain whether. One moment it is sunny, the next an all-encompassing mist covers everything. The rains come, the thunder can shake you to your foundation. But even so...
"How suddenly the change had come. One moment I was gazing almost breathlessly at the beauty of the Haustock as the clouds lifted from it for the first time. Then just half an hour later all the snow mountains were blotted out as completely as if they did not exist...Then my Lord said, 'These changes come in life, too. For one hour the vision on the Mount, and then perhaps almost directly, the descent into the depths of the valley where the vision may seem to be completely blotted out by changed circumstances. But believe steadfastly in what I showed you in the hours of vision and clear sky. The reality is there still, even though a curtain seems to blot it out. You have seen the Haustock, and though there is no trace of it now, and it has disappeared like a dream, nevertheless it is there. It is a reality. But the mist and cloud are transient and will pass away, and the true reality appear again!'" (page 260)
And then she goes on several pages later, speaking still of the heavy mist...
"If a person had never been here before, that one would not even dimly guess at what lies beyond the curtain of mist. All that I have looked upon and loved and rejoiced over has disappeared completely. 'But it is all there,' says the loving Lord, 'though you cannot see any of it, for it has been completely blotted out and apparently vanished into nothingness. But remember, nothing is missing. It is invisible now but is is waiting to become visible again. And its last message to you is this: Believe steadfastly in the invisible things. For the things which are seen are temporal: but the things which are not seen are eternal' (cf 2 Cor. 4:18)." (page 269)
I guess this was just a really powerful reflection for me on life in general. I get so caught up in the day-to-day that sometimes it is just darn hard to focus on the eternal. On our only real goal in life. The only true "reality" in our journey as children of God. In the story, the five main "bad guys" are Fear, Bitterness, Resentment, Pride and Self-Pity. With this I can totally identify and relate on a pathetically real level. It is so easy to let these stumbling blocks consume me. Frequently. Daily. Hourly. To not see the forest for the trees. To wallow, as it were, grudgingly through the day-to-day without keeping my eyes on the prize, my perspective on the eternal. Oh how I struggle.
In speaking of our journey through life she says,
"In heaven everyone and everything is lovable, but as the Lord Jesus said, 'If ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?" (Matt. 5:46) In heaven everyone loves everyone else, and in hell no one loves anyone. But on earth we are in a perfect environment (emphasis mine, I just love this) for learning to love as God loves: to abandon ourselves to loving the apparently unlovely people who remind us that in many ways we are still very unlovely ourselves! (wow) ... Here on earth we have the opportunity to do what the God of love does all the time, and to learn to abandon ourselves to loving, to giving, to seeking, and to saving others. Not a lovely feeling of affection, or physical pleasure and satisfaction, but the extreme eternal ecstasy of creating happiness and good and blessed things for others to enjoy. To cast ourselves down...in happy giving, asking for nothing in return except the joy of so doing. When we really begin to learn and practice that lesson we shall begin to feel 'at home' in the eternal world of selfless love." (page 277)
And a bit later, as she is viewing the Alps one last time from the airplane...
"In that hour, in the airplane above the Alps, my little narrow, cold, self-centered human heart caught a tiny but staggering glimpse of what it means to be the sons and daughters of the eternal God of love. We are called to love with the fullest capacity of which we are capable. To love as He loves, and so to be an echo - faint and feeble, but a true one - of that eternal self, giving us drops of the water of life, poured out in the cataract of the divine self-giving." (page 284)
This is a book I can see coming back to again and again...and taking away something different and unique yet completely applicable each time. I hope you have enjoyed these reflections. They sure struck a vibrant chord with me.
Pretty cool. It has actually been painted since and is red now, so would probably need some restoring of its own to reach its potential worth. Not that we intend to restore or sell it or anything like that (I believe my sister has it now), but never-the-less pretty neat to know its worth. One of those random things that made this particular episode especially enjoyable.
