Sunday Sermon
Bringing Home the Mountain

We had our usual Sunday morning boomerang throw. Had 7 throwers on the suicide round... pretty crazy, but a lot of fun.

After that, I went hiking with Mark, Ben, Nicole, Julia, and Clay. The past few years of sedentary academic pursuit have left my once athletic frame a shambles, and my always fragile knees are now many miles past their warranty. The snow on the trail made footing sketchy, and every time I slipped I would brace myself for that odd ripping/popping/exploding sensation that accompanies an ACL tear. That discomfort aside, it was beautiful. The views were spectacular, and the weather was wonderful.

The mountains always seem to bring the mind to a clearer place. It is no surprise that holy men throughout history have made trekked up into the mountains to search for God, themselves, truth, and peace.

Perhaps spurred on by that rarified air, Julia and I talked religion. The hows and whys of it, the role of women, and her refusal to accept rules just for the sake of rules. Soon we asked Clay to join us and the discussion ranged far and wide, from LDS doctrine and pratice to the Jataka tales to core ideas about life, eternity, and death... all while slipping and sliding down the slushy slope, heading for the cars.

We arrived at no consensus. We started the discussion as Agnostic, Buddhist, and LDS, and we ended there as well. And that was OK. The view from the mountain made it clear that our different positions are just different facets of the same reality, seen from where we are standing at the moment. All we can really do is roll the die and read the face that comes out on top.

I'm going to work on remembering that. I'd like to have that "mountain view" all the time, even here on flat ground.

Go in Peace.