Tonight I watched the sun sink below the horizon as I stood atop a peek overlooking the clouds. It was perhaps one of the most fantastic spiritual experiences I have had in a long while. The glowing orange sun spreads its warm colors atop pure while puffy clouds which grace the tops of the surrounding majestic Sierra Nevada peaks. I hear nothing but the cool wind which makes my naked ears ache. I welcome the chill, as I am too distracted by the surrounding beauty to care about such temporal discomfort. I'm reminded of times past that I have experienced this soul bending peace which accompanies the panorama view from atop a peak, gazing down through patches of soft clouds at the vast rugged wilderness below. I attempt to use lofty language not to please the reader, but to capture just a smidge of the associated feelings that grip me when I find myself standing atop a mountain.
Today I was able to reach this privileged view with minimal effort - a 20 minute drive followed by a short and steep half mile ascent. Yet most often, such a privileged view comes only after hours of strenuous hiking through treacherous terrain. I believe this is how it should be. Such a reward should not come easy, for then it falls victim to simply becoming a "good photo opp." In my experience, it has been the things that I work hardest for that I appreciate and value the most. Yet even after minimal effort to reach my perch, I find myself lost in wonder and consumed by emotion. Similar to what I experience when comfortably fixed in my window seat, pressing my face against the 8 X 12 window to watch the city noise fade into a speck amidst a larger picture of untamed country. What is it about the high places that capture my heart and soul? Why is it that I feel most at peace in these precious moments where I am given a birds eye view of the world?
I don't know that I have absolute answers to these questions. More and more I believe that true spiritual experiences hold mystery that cannot be scientifically rationalized or psychologically picked apart. However, today I did some reflecting on these questions while descending from my mountaintop experience and I came to a satisfactory explanation.
First, all outside noise becomes irrelevant and lost - radio, chit-chat, videos, arguments, engines and horns, intellectual banter, mechanized conveniences, religious debate, the hum of artificial lighting, buzzing and ringing phones, the rattling of coins, banging of doors... all is replaced with a natural and real peace. Secondly, inward noise is carried away with the wind - justifiable anger, worries of tomorrow, fear of yesterday, self-centered pride, self-doubting tapes, pressure to please, questions demanding for answers, unmet personal expectation, performance anxiety accompanied with perfectionism, loneliness, apathy... all are forgotten in this moment. Finally, childlike wonder is unpacked from it's dusty box - peace embraces the unknown, a renewed trust in a Higher Power is found, acceptance comes easier, joy is placed in living, purpose is discovered, imagination awakens, unexplainable laughter aroused, curiosity heightens.
From atop the peak, outside noise dissipates, inward noise is silenced, and childlike wonder is recaptured.
Oh, that I could live on that mountaintop... ;)
