I love the mountain. It reminds me of my mother country because the seventy percents of Korea are mountains. We have an old saying: “The meek love the mountain; the wise the water.” As I walk in the mountain, I realize it is like life—often you walk without seeing; it asks you to trust a way on which you are walking to lead you to the destination. And even though you see another mountain in the distance of a stone’s throw, you can’t go there if there is no way to. It fits into the scripture, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.” Jesus Christ is the way we want to walk.
And climbing the mountain is not conquering it as many think, rather, it is a humbling experience. Someone says, “We climb the mountain because it is there.” It is true to say that we humans instinctively know there is something bigger than us something greater than us. So many adventurous people discipline themselves to challenge the highest mountains in humane ways and experience awe and humility on the top if the Mother Nature is generous to them.
In the scripture, the mountain is always important to find significant events: Abraham went up to the mountain in Moriah to offer up his only son Isaac, Moses received the ten commandments on the mountain, Elijah encountered God on the mountain, Jesus taught the beatitude on the mountain and in the Gospel today Jesus was transfigured on the high mountain. The mountain is the place where humans encounter God to be transformed.