When educational philosopher John Dewey was 89 years old, a young medical doctor was questioning his philosophical view of life and asked, “What’s the good of such claptrap?” “Where does it lead you?” Professor Dewey responded by saying, “The good of it is that you climb mountains.”
The young man scoffed, “Climb mountains! And what’s the use of doing that?” Professor Dewey answered, “When you climb mountains, you see other mountains to climb. You come down, climb the next mountain, and you see still others to climb.” Then he added, “When you are no longer interested in climbing mountains to see other mountains to climb, life is over.”
In other words, if there are no challenges, no difficult mountains to climb, then you may still have a physical pulse, but you are not fully alive and living. It is the mountainous challenges that give our life meaning, purpose and energy.
I find it interesting and revealing that the biblical story of Moses’ life tells us that the major pivotal moments in Moses’ life took place on mountains? First, there was Mount Horeb, the mountain of God’s call. Then came Mount Sinai, the mountain of God’s commandments. And finally, there was Mount Nebo, which we can call the mountain of commencement.
It was from this final mountain that Moses was privileged to view the end results of his life’s work, the promised land. From this mountain he also entered the heavenly promised land, graduating from this life and into the next. For Moses, there continued to be the challenge of another mountain, until he was called into heaven from his final mountain.
Whether we be young, middle-aged, or senior adults, it is always good to ask ourselves for what purpose am I living during these years? Is your purpose just to hang on as long as you can, just like the bumper sticker advertised: “I just want to live long enough to be a burden to my children.”
I suppose that can be a purpose for living, and it may indeed prolong your life, or probably more correctly, make it just seem that way to everybody around you. Obviously, we should find a purpose that is bigger than just having a cantankerous spirit.
What keeps you going? What is your purpose on planet earth? Even more importantly, is that purpose one given you by God? If you believe it is, then you, like Moses, can still be young in mind and spirit at age 80. If not, then you most likely will be feeling old at age 40.
You are old when you feel that tomorrow holds no meaningful challenge, no mountain to climb. You are old when you say, “I’m too old for that.” You are old when you think that you have learned all that there is to learn about life and God. You are old when you talk to people younger than you but are not willing to listen and learn from them. You are old when you only talk about a purpose for living in the past tense and not in the future tense. How old are you feeling today?
On the other hand, if you believe you have a God-given purpose for living, you will daily feel motivated and energized toward experiencing even more learning and growing experiences. You will be young no matter how many candles are on your birthday cake.
Keep climbing every mountain and grasp every challenging opportunity. Keep focused on claiming your spiritual legacy, your purpose for living, and follow God’s guidance. For if you do, then every day you will climb to a new mountain peak, from which you may see tomorrow’s mountain, and then the next day’s mountain, until you graduate to the promised land standing on a mountain peak. What an exciting way to live, and what a glorious way to die.
And so, I say to myself and to you, keep climbing every mountain. We cannot relive the past, and try as we may, we cannot live the future yet. All that we will ever have to hold in our hands is “today.” What will we do with it?
“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 6, 2020
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
Leave a comment