listening on the Mt. Rubidoux road...

Jonathan and I grew up in Riverside, California, he at the foot of Mt. Rubidoux, and me at the foot of Pachappa Hill. (I've often wondered how hilarious it would have been if we had been together in our youth and sent Morse code love notes to each other from 'an undisclosed location' on our respective hillsides.  Nerd daydreams.)

Mt. Rubidoux is a public park/landmark, with two roads encircling the hillsides for a total of 3.5 miles. The Up Road, and the Down Road, where back in the day dignitaries were driven to the summit to see the mammoth concrete cross at the peak. ( Historical note: the longest continuous Easter Sunrise service is held each year at the summit.) BTW That road happened to be designed by a distant relative of mine on my mother's side. Small world...

...ANYWAY - when Brett was four I decided to go backpacking with a group of friends in the coming summer. At 32, in much better shape than the present, I needed to endurance-train for the week. Teaching HeadStart half-days in the afternoons gave little Brett and me time to head to the base of the hill in the morning after the brothers got off to school. Brett would get on my back, like a monkey boy, :-) and we would hike to the top, play on the stone steps by the cross, and head back down to go off to school. What wonderful mornings to remember as the curly-haired one gets ready to go to college.

This summer has been difficult for me on a lot of levels. After sharing a fraction of my tribulations yesterday, my dear friend asked me to outstretch my arm and hold a paperback book. I told him I couldn't maintain that very long, and he said no one could. "Are you gonna hang onto your troubles?" 


I said, "No"... but was uncertain how I could simply set them down. They are quite real, and some need pain pills -- but I got his point. Don't dwell on them. And yet...


...I think a different analogy for someone struggling with internal and external issues might be something akin to hiking Mt. Rubidoux with a curly-haired four-year-old on your back. You can't set him down and walk away -- he has to go with you. You can't leave him by the side of the road for a while and then come back! Who knows what will happen while you are away?! Troubles and trials are not as sweet and wonderful as a loving four year-old monkey-boy -- but they are just as real, and demand just as much attention so you can get to those precious moments of freedom, like hiking in the morning and reveling in the beauty around you. Jesus walked a lot of dusty roads in His time on earth, and faced a lot of troubles...


I think I choose to put them in a "backpack", and use their weight to help me regain my lost strength and endurance. They will work themselves out, with God's grace, while I press with my journey on the Up and Down Roads. 

How do you handle crises? What works for you? Do you need to get a backpack and start walking?? If you feel like •need to • want to share, leave a comment. All replies are anonymous and private.

The Listening Post is open...