Summiting Springer Mountain. . .Again

Last fall, finding time short for a "proper" hike, Glen and I decided to return to one of our favorite places on earth, Long Creek Falls, Georgia.

We decided to park our car at a spot about a mile away from the falls.  The first day we would hike to the falls and then hike northbound as far as we could time-wise then hike back.  There was a lovely camping place very close to where we had parked and we spent the night there.

The next morning we hiked to the summit of Springer Mountain, which is the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.  We had hiked this same direction on our second section hike several years ago.  (You can read about that hike here.) Many of the spots we passed were familiar to us as we passed them again, including our campsite for the last night of that hike where we spent the coldest night of our lives.

The view from the summit of Springer Mountain

As we continued up Springer Mountain, taking turns that circled us around toward the summit, at each turn I thought, "This is it, this leads to the top," only to find the trail led even further upward and around the mountain.  Then, suddenly it seemed, we came out of the trees to the rock formation that marks the beginning (or ending, depending upon your direction) of the Appalachian Trail.

Thinking of this today made me think of how much like life that hike was.  We pass scenes in our lives, some over and over again.  They are familiar and often reassuring.  As we look at the trail of our lives disappearing around the bend out of view it feels as if the things in our lives we are anticipating with joy will never arrive, and then - suddenly it seems - they are upon us.  Before we know it we are standing on an incredible summit, looking out over beautiful vistas.

Time has a way of fooling us.  It creeps almost unbearably slowly when we children and once we are seasoned adults it flies by with the speed of hummingbird's wings.  The clock is a cruel task-master in this life. 

But oh, dear one, if we have put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus, there is coming a day where the rule of that cruel master will end.  The Scriptures tell us "that there should be time no longer."  What a wondrous thought!  Even as I write this, my eyes look at the clock to see how much time I have until I leave for work.  No more clocks seems like a glorious summit to look to!

"The sun shall be more more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee:  but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory."

Isaiah 60:19

Long Creek Falls, Georgia