Uphill
Driving uphill was a poetic experience that culminated in a deeper
understanding of faith in God for me. By the time we completed the first
hairpin bend (on the way to Yercaud), it was 5pm. The wintry sun was
feeling too cold to complete the day. He was asking for the night to
blanket him from the breezy cold winds. Slowly, twilight was taking over
nature's reins only to cede its power to the misty and stary night. I think
twilight is God's gift to feast one's eyes. The lustrous, yet fading, light was
drawing down the curtains as a sign of another glorious end only for a new
beginning.
The chillness in the breeze coupled with the panaromic view of the sky - -
graciously splashed with shades of orange, red and blue - - was an
experience to behold that touches one's soul. God has done so much for
just an hour in a day - - there is no greater artist than God Himself.
Simply awesome.
Oh.. we lost count of an hour watching the gradual change from morning
to evening and then to night. And so, here we are completing the last
haipen bend when it was totally dark and misty. Our visibility at this point
was less than hundred metres. By now, the entire place was blanketed by
a thick mist and as I stood there watching, thinking and perceiving this
beauty of nature, God gave a wonderful thought.
He taught me something wonderful about "faith" and "spiritual maturity".
Spiritual maturity of a believer (Christian context) is directly linked with
his/her faith in God. Now faith is believing in the unseen and not seeing
and believing. And so, I applied my uphill experience (spiritual
experience) with these two concepts.
Its a known fact that as the altitude increases, temperature decreases and
weather conditions become unfavourable. One of the immediate
consequences of an unfavourable cold weather is mist or fog. And as a
result there is poor visibility. Though the uphill climb could mean that one is
spiritually maturing, there are times when one will encounter wintry days
covered by mist or fog which could impair our vision. And that's when
God wants us to use our Faith in Him and trust that He knows our every
next step.
This was a very valuable teaching for me, as many times I've felt that the
spiritual maturity (uphill climb) was a tough task and its hard to have faith
(see through uncertainities) during times of difficulty. But, in essence,
what God told me was to not think too much about the difficult climb but to
enjoy the scenic view (wisdom through experience) while I climb. And
secondly, when situations are hard to understand or predict (as they are
blanketed by mist), He wants us to just have faith in Him.
And while I was finishing contemplating on this... "Dai John.. call your dad's friend and get the address" shouted Balaji. Good that he interrupted me at this point of time and not before. And so, I spoke to Ajith Uncle who gave us the direction and later received us at his dormitory. Time to unwind and get ready for dinner... Whattaayy dayy so far!!!
