…but return we must.

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Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written.
Exodus 32:15 English Standard Version

I recently returned from a week long trip to Yellowstone National Park. I was a mentor for a young man, Michael, who was born with microcephaly. When Michael was born, his head was smaller than normal. As such, his brain does not function normally. I was deeply blessed by Michael and the seven other young men who were a part of Will’s Hope.

We stayed in cabins that looked south from Gardiner, Montana into Yellowstone. This picture is the view from the deck of one of these cabins. This was our backyard for one week.

We watched storm clouds form over the mountains.

We stared at Big Horn sheep grazing in the field across from the cabin.

We listened to the sound of the Yellowstone River passing beneath us.

Even though I missed my family, it was hard to come down the mountain, and not just because of this view. I remember sitting on the deck and talking with a participant about his life. I remember talking to Janice, on the phone, while Michael sat next to me making jokes about our day. I remember the courage of these young men as they face their daily challenges.

Moses had to come down from a much more spectacular mountain than I did. He was communing with God as no other human being has other than Jesus. How hard it must have been for him to come down that mountain and hear the noise of idolatry. So great was his pain that he smashed the tablets of stone. How he must have longed to be back on top of the mountain.

It would be nice to stay on top of the mountain, but, as Yoda would say, “Painful is the return, but return we must.” (Okay, we listened to a Star Wars book on the fourteen hour trip back from Yellowstone.) Though we love the mountain, life happens in the valley. These eight young men returned to their daily lives and so did the rest of us. However, that is where God has called us, and that is where God empowers us to be the people we have been redeemed to be through Christ.

Actually, I’m glad to be home and off of the mountain.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado