hinds' feet

Just a few days after my father died, my twin sister Alia and I both felt an urge to read an old book again, called Hinds' Feet on High Places. It's an allegory about a girl named Much Afraid, who follows the Chief Shepherd to the high places. It is a wonderful story, and I would recommend it to anyone. Eric and I read it together on a few trips this last week (I read aloud to him in the car when we travel to services), and we both learned so many great lessons from it. After the body of the book are some journal entries from Hannah Hurnard that sort of show how she got the concepts of the story, and below is an excerpt:

"How suddenly the change had come. One moment I was gazing almost breathlessly at the beauty of the Haustock [a mountain in Switzerland] 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. Before I got back to the Bergfrieden Pension Haus all the nearer hills and fields and chalets had disappeared, and mist and rain completely shrouded the landscape. 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!'"

It is amazing how often we go by the things we can see with our eyes, even though God has so clearly showed us the reality before. I've found that when the mist comes, I look around and wonder if I ever saw clearly what the vision really was...but that's ridiculous. Just because I can't see something with my eyes doesn't mean it isn't there. The reality is sometimes covered by other things: confusion, doubt in myself, troubles around--but it is still there, as strong and unmoveable as a mountain. It is not what moves, my faith is. And yet God, the One who allows the mist and shadow to come between me and the reality, gives me a glimpse of it here and there, and reminds me that it is not my job to create the reality (only He can do that), but to believe it, proclaim it, and follow my Lord in obedience until it is clear to the rest of the world. That is our job here in Summit County, and I will do my best to be faithful to it.

Leila