When two people mutually experience
difficulties in dating each other, what they have is often described as a
“rocky relationship.”
Not uncommonly, when someone is
having a rough time in life, is the “rough time” referred to as a “rocky road.”
Speaking of “rocky road,” that phrase
has always toted a negative connotation in my mind, because I’m allergic to
that kind of ice cream. Bummer, right?
Rocks. Oftentimes they are bulky,
heavy stumbling blocks that can inflict big-time pain if you trip on them or if
they get thrown at you. But just a few months ago, rocks presented themselves
to me in a totally different light.
I was climbing back down from the
highest peak of my neighborhood’s mountain range. Mount Nebo is what it was. If
the ocean was right next door, the tippy-top would tower 12,000 feet above it.
As a poor attempt to paint you a word
picture, I will tell you that it was indeed beautiful, with oodles of trees
everywhere. Evergreens. Aspens...
"You can tell it's an aspen......"
There were birds...
Bugs...
And a doe-a-deer-a-female-deer!
It was dusty in
parts, flowery in parts, and really steep in a lot of parts. There also were no
visible water sources, and so you had to be super prepped with plenty of packed
water of your own. I had my trusty CamelBak bladder (hmm… that sounds pretty
attractive, eh?).
About halfway into the hike, one
begins to laboriously transport his or her already-tired little body up a
lengthy slope that I swear is practically perfectly perpendicular to the
relatively level grade that was just barely walked upon. Although you’ve
heretofore been ascending since step 1 of your Nebo journey, this is
where the true ascension begins…
HERE is where “quadriceps +
respiratory system = kindred spirits joined together in bravely taking on
cruel, cruel gravity + treacherous geometric angles in nature.”
HERE is where you’re beginning to
notice that there are significantly fewer trees the farther and farther you go,
and you’re closing in on the timberline where foliage ends and the rocks
commence.
Yes, I’m back to the rocks again. I’m
about to really start inching towards the actual point of my entire tale – yay!
GETTING TO THE POINT
In the process of conquering Nebo,
just before one can almost taste the peak (ew, but don’t actually ever do
that), one undertakes a serious scaling session up some seriously jagged rocks.
(Like, srsly.) The strategizing surrounding one’s rock climbing endeavors
sometimes can feel taxing. But in reality, it’s this rocky path that is the
best and easiest way to reach the glorious end goal.
And then, there you are. With your
friends, and with a view that is très magnifique. What a wonderful time
period, here at the summit! You sit down together on the hard ground, chat
together, laugh together, take fun photos, and scarf down your bananas and club
crackers, which, at that moment, you swear are the absolute most delectable
things that have ever graced your buds.
And then it’s time to start thinking
about going home. And the only way home is.........back down the rocks.
It’s a whole new ballgame, wholly
different from how it felt to scamper UPwards. DOWNwards was downright
interesting. And no, it’s not like I’d never hiked before. I’ve been known to
trek among the flora, fauna, and geology in my day! But it was this particular
Nebolistic descent in my life that provided me with a thought-provoking and
heart-penetrating spiritual experience that I’m sure I’ll never forget – one
that causes me to believe that I know precisely why God created rocks in the
first place.
THE POINT
It was the latter half of the hike,
and my friends and I had approximately two miles left. We were doused in dirt.
Our feet hurt. We had gotten over our passionate love for nibbling upon
crackers, and were in the opening stages of realizing that our bellies were
ready for something real.
We were meandering our way down a
doozy of a hill. Impacted rocks spotted the trail everywhere – rocks that, if I
remember correctly, were valued to be more towards the “nuisance” side of the
pH Scale of Annoyance than the “oh pleeeez do come in and make yourself at
home” side of it.
But now that we were descending the
slopes of the Nebo, the rocks that were once on the brink of problematication
were now somehow suddenly transformed into things of beautiful helpfulness.
They were basically the core reason none of us slipped and slid anytime during
this portion of the expedition. For a while I think I had been subconsciously
thinking, Wow, I’m sure glad these rocks are here for our safe footing
purposes! But then it dawned on me just how rockin’ly useful they now
were, and it immediately made me think of a classically terrific verse in the
Book of Mormon, which I consider to be a true book of holy scripture:
“And now, my sons, remember, remember
that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that
ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty
winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty
storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag
you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of
the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a
foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” (Helaman 5:12)
It was because of the rocks on my
path that I wasn’t “dragged down” by whatever elements in the universe are
responsible for causing people to topple while hiking. I’m so glad I was eventually
able to view the rocks this way; it took several miles of Nebo road, but that’s
very much alright.
ROCK AND REDEEMER
What I learned that day from the
rocks reminded me a lot of my Savior, King, Brother, and Friend, Jesus Christ,
the Son of the Living God. Jesus is the “rock” and the “Redeemer” referred to
in the literary excerpt I just shared. He is who I know I count on whenever I
need help getting safe footing while on the mountains of my mortality – and
that’s pretty much all the time! He is every beautifully
helpful rock wedged into the ground, for the sole purpose of aiding His
Father’s children in their challenging journey back home to heaven – meaning,
He is not only there for me, but for everyone who will choose to use the
amazing gift that He Himself is. He is love. I’m so thankful for Him, as well
as for Him who is both His Father, my Father, and your Father: God, our
Heavenly Father.
