I have often travelled to my parents’ homeland of Ireland over the years and have spent many long days in the beautiful mountain region of Connemara, Co. Galway, hiking solo to each of the highly varied peaks of the Twelve Bens, and through most of the moody summits of the Maumturks.
About 10 years ago, I plotted out a hike in the southern range of the Maumturks. As you can see in the contour map accompanying this column, my route covered a “flat” distance of about 10 kilometres, travelling from east to west. I arranged for someone to drive me from the end point, where my car would await me, to the start point at the base of Corcogemore, which rose sharply from sea level to 609 metres. Not exactly a light warm-up, but it was exhilarating to reach the summit, with a 360-degree view of the region.
The way I chose relied on travelling through a series of peaks on the “saddles” that joined them—zigzagging my way through the range without having to go back down to sea level. And so, from the summit of Corcogemore, I hiked northwest and then southeast on a saddle up toward the first peak of Mullach Glas at 622 metres.
The mountains of Connemara are in close proximity to the sea, and in a single day it is possible to unexpectedly find yourself in clear skies, sheeting rain, blasting wind, or fog: very heavy fog. As I made my way along the generous summit of Mullach Glas, a thick fog suddenly started to roll in—as you can see in the second photo.
It became impossible to move safely. I had only a metre of visibility in any direction and my compass was almost useless. I tried to read the ground immediately beneath me as I moved northwest toward what I hoped was a narrow saddle with steep, craggy sides that would lead to the 630-metre east peak of mighty Binn Mhor. When I suddenly found myself on the precipice of a jagged crag, I realized I had lost all sense of location, direction, and perspective. I had to wait it out, conscious that it might be several hours or even overnight before it was safe to move.
After some attempts at moving gingerly to see if I could find the top of the saddle, only to feel the gawping edges of more crags, something remarkable happened. Suddenly, there was a gap in the dense fog that opened up like a cathedral—showing how off track I was and revealing the saddle that would take me over and up to the relative safety of Binn Morh’s east peak and the plateau that would lead to its central, 661-metre summit. I paid attention, saw where I needed to go, and moved forward with determination.
I share this story because it speaks to paying attention to moments where God unexpectedly opens up the fog in human existence to show us all what we need to know and what we need to do. The resurrection of Jesus is such a moment.
On the Sunday of the Resurrection, we celebrate the wonderful mystery of God casting aside the boundaries of time and space, causing us to see the powerful love that fills human hearts with meaning, purpose, and indestructible hope. The Resurrection of Jesus is God telling us to pay attention to what he taught if we want to find the way to walk closely with God—and actually feel close to God.
The Christian tradition affirms that God is uniquely revealed in Jesus Christ. In other words, if you want to know what God is all about, look to Jesus and you will find the answer.
Christianity holds the belief that God, the transcendent and eternal Creator of all things, visited time and space in the person of Jesus to show for all time that God is with us and that God is love.
Through Jesus, God tells all creation that nothing can be separated from God’s redeeming love, and that we will find salvation—the discovery of who we truly are and what we are called to do—when we accept and share God’s love. God, in Jesus, shows all human beings that those who entrust their lives to God can become radically free to give sacrificially to this world—to live as spiritually strong people who, with humility and confidence, seek to serve others and to challenge anything that injures, corrupts, or destroys the integrity of all that God has made to be good and just.
Christians believe that the way to God is the way of Jesus; wise Christians know that the way to God is not bound by simplistic verbal formulas, notions of prosperity, and national or cultural affiliations. If you pay attention to Jesus, you will see that the way to God is found in living your life with kindness, courage, gentleness, justice, faithfulness, compassion, mercy, self-control, generosity, goodness, prayerfulness, forgiveness, patience, trustworthiness, peace, hope, and, above all, love.
The fog of human life was opened up for an abundant moment when God raised Jesus from the dead, vividly confirming that all he taught us is trustworthy—showing us where we need to go to walk closely with God, to feel close to God. Go there with all the determination you can muster and safely find your way home.
PHOTOS: CONTRIBUTED
Saint John, Innisville — Deanery of the Southwest