Wednesday, December 28, 2005 at 2:02am
I have been to the mountaintop
Column: Our Place in the Universe
The road from Jerusalem to Jericho is dramatic and dangerous. It is a steep, rough, and winding road conducive to nose bleeds and robbers. Starting out in Jerusalem you find yourself about 2500 feet above sea level. To reach Jericho you must travel down to the depth of 825 feet below sea level.
This creates an amazing mixture of environmental conditions. Following the scary and confined road down the mountain, the land changes drastically in height and temperature. Jerusalem has a lush, Mediterranean climate receiving about 20 inches of rainfall a year. On the way down, passing the Mount of Olives, you reach a point where there is only 16 inches of rainfall and the trees stop. Further still, you pass the 12-inch rainfall line and the vegetation cover is reduced to steppe shrubs.
As you approach Jericho, which receives an average of 8-inches of rainfall a year, the climate reverts to desert. In fact Jericho is an oasis in the middle of desert and barren valley. To the east of Jericho is the Jordan River, famous as the place where John the Baptist immersed his followers.
Such an enormous change in the environment over a short distance of about seventeen miles is exhausting for anyone making the trip. The rocky slopes are precipitous enough when dry, and all but impassable during the rainy season. In ancient times, reaching the Ascent of Blood or "Bloody" pass, a few miles from the city of Jericho, brought on the added dangers of bandits who had an easy escape and secure hiding place in the desert. http://www.newmediabible.org/
This is the backdrop for Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, and Martin Luther King's 1968 "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. I was inspired to read that speech as I contemplated telling you about my own mountaintop experience. http://www.afscme.org/about/kingspch.htm
I was on a mountaintop, for a 21-day retreat. During one of the meditation sessions I was (to use Christian terminology) "caught up into heaven." In my meditation, I was on a swing, and on the upswing I just kept on going. Simply put, I became one with the flow of the Heart of the Universe, and yet I maintained my own individuality. Caught in the current of creation I saw the core of my being, pure and brilliantly golden.
As I came "down" from the heights, I discovered that the person sitting behind me had the same experience. Since then I've found two others who have had similar experiences — at one with the Whole, and at the same time wholly One.
What does this have to do with the road from Jerusalem to Jericho? Well, like that road, my descent back to reality was abrupt and arduous. How can one explain and encompass this reality after experiencing the inexplicable beauty of Oneness?
In his speech, Martin Luther King says he would take his mind to Mount Olympus where noble Greek minds would discuss "great and eternal issues of reality." But he wouldn't stop there. He would choose to be in this place, in this time, for "we either go up together, or we go down together." We must be concerned about this reality and use our imagination to overcome our fear.
This was the fear that the Levite and the priest had when they failed to stop and help the man in need at the "Bloody" pass. King says they were asking, "what will happen to me if I stop and help this man?" He goes on to say that the question we should be asking is "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
When faced with reality (after having tasted heaven) we can also ask what will happen to me, if I do not even stop and help myself? The rocky slopes, the precipitous-ness of life, the vandals that rob us of our self esteem, the resentment and anger that steals our heart's compassion and willingness to be good — these are all obstacles we face in our road from Jerusalem to Jericho and back again.
Dr. King said, as he asked the Almighty to allow him to live in this time, "The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around . . . But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding — something is happening in our world."
Like Martin Luther King, I've been to the mountaintop. And like Martin Luther King, I'm choosing to be right here, right now instead. It may be desert most of the time, but being resourceful, intelligent and insightful, we humans have done many miraculous things. Why not try now to put our heads, hands, and hearts together to build the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth?
— — —
Anne E. Ulvestad is a freelance writer residing in Maryland. At the present time she is working on her Masters in Earth Literacy. Available for public lectures and group presentations on Spirituality and the Environment, she can be reached at {email anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com}anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com{/email}© 2005 by Anne E. Ulvestad.
— — —
UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum is a big tent for all expressions of faith and spirituality, neither excluding nor favoring any. All opinions expressed belong to the writer alone, and are not necessarily shared by UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum.
This creates an amazing mixture of environmental conditions. Following the scary and confined road down the mountain, the land changes drastically in height and temperature. Jerusalem has a lush, Mediterranean climate receiving about 20 inches of rainfall a year. On the way down, passing the Mount of Olives, you reach a point where there is only 16 inches of rainfall and the trees stop. Further still, you pass the 12-inch rainfall line and the vegetation cover is reduced to steppe shrubs.
As you approach Jericho, which receives an average of 8-inches of rainfall a year, the climate reverts to desert. In fact Jericho is an oasis in the middle of desert and barren valley. To the east of Jericho is the Jordan River, famous as the place where John the Baptist immersed his followers.
Such an enormous change in the environment over a short distance of about seventeen miles is exhausting for anyone making the trip. The rocky slopes are precipitous enough when dry, and all but impassable during the rainy season. In ancient times, reaching the Ascent of Blood or "Bloody" pass, a few miles from the city of Jericho, brought on the added dangers of bandits who had an easy escape and secure hiding place in the desert. http://www.newmediabible.org/
This is the backdrop for Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, and Martin Luther King's 1968 "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. I was inspired to read that speech as I contemplated telling you about my own mountaintop experience. http://www.afscme.org/about/kingspch.htm
I was on a mountaintop, for a 21-day retreat. During one of the meditation sessions I was (to use Christian terminology) "caught up into heaven." In my meditation, I was on a swing, and on the upswing I just kept on going. Simply put, I became one with the flow of the Heart of the Universe, and yet I maintained my own individuality. Caught in the current of creation I saw the core of my being, pure and brilliantly golden.
As I came "down" from the heights, I discovered that the person sitting behind me had the same experience. Since then I've found two others who have had similar experiences — at one with the Whole, and at the same time wholly One.
What does this have to do with the road from Jerusalem to Jericho? Well, like that road, my descent back to reality was abrupt and arduous. How can one explain and encompass this reality after experiencing the inexplicable beauty of Oneness?
In his speech, Martin Luther King says he would take his mind to Mount Olympus where noble Greek minds would discuss "great and eternal issues of reality." But he wouldn't stop there. He would choose to be in this place, in this time, for "we either go up together, or we go down together." We must be concerned about this reality and use our imagination to overcome our fear.
This was the fear that the Levite and the priest had when they failed to stop and help the man in need at the "Bloody" pass. King says they were asking, "what will happen to me if I stop and help this man?" He goes on to say that the question we should be asking is "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
When faced with reality (after having tasted heaven) we can also ask what will happen to me, if I do not even stop and help myself? The rocky slopes, the precipitous-ness of life, the vandals that rob us of our self esteem, the resentment and anger that steals our heart's compassion and willingness to be good — these are all obstacles we face in our road from Jerusalem to Jericho and back again.
Dr. King said, as he asked the Almighty to allow him to live in this time, "The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around . . . But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding — something is happening in our world."
Like Martin Luther King, I've been to the mountaintop. And like Martin Luther King, I'm choosing to be right here, right now instead. It may be desert most of the time, but being resourceful, intelligent and insightful, we humans have done many miraculous things. Why not try now to put our heads, hands, and hearts together to build the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth?
— — —
Anne E. Ulvestad is a freelance writer residing in Maryland. At the present time she is working on her Masters in Earth Literacy. Available for public lectures and group presentations on Spirituality and the Environment, she can be reached at {email anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com}anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com{/email}© 2005 by Anne E. Ulvestad.
UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum is a big tent for all expressions of faith and spirituality, neither excluding nor favoring any. All opinions expressed belong to the writer alone, and are not necessarily shared by UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum.