“Keep Climbing”

We’ve all heard of Mt. Everest. In the Himalayas Mountain range near the China-Nepal boarder, it’s the highest mountain in the world….. over 29,000 feet. 330 people have died trying to climb it. The base camp( at the base of the mountain) in Nepal is 17,598’ elevation; for comparison, Denver is called the “Mile High City” at 5,280’ elevation… athletic teams dislike playing there because the elevation brings about excess fatigue. How would you like to play basketball on Mt. Everest?

One of the most challenging aspects of climbing Mt. Everest is altitude sickness; it occurs when your body is exposed to low amounts of oxygen at high altitude. Symptoms include breathlessness, headaches, nausea and vomiting and can be life-threatening at very high altitude.

No one sprints up Mt. Everest. The body needs to acclimate to the higher altitudes (and lower oxygen levels) There are other camps as you proceed up the mountain…Camp 2 at 20,997’, Camp 3 at 23,500’, Camp 4 at 26,085’. Camp 4 is in the “death zone” where the oxygen level can’t sustain life for an extended period. 

If all goes well, the entire trip can take some 40 days of which much of it is the body acclimating to the altitude.  “Sitting for lunch for 2 hours at the higher altitude will encourage the creation of more red blood cells during the evening, which is the basis of acclimatization. This tactic is known as “climb high – sleep low. Rest and recover; acclimatizing is very hard on the human body.” (ref. Mikka Luster, Mt. Everest Guide)

So Dave, where are we going with this BLOG? Well, I have to say, I find this all very interesting. Reading thru a number of articles and a few books on the Mt. Everest, I kind of wish I could have at least taken a trek to the base camp which many people have done. Yet, I’ve taken it off my bucket list; my bucket list now is to keep climbing the steps at home…. 28 steps from driveway to bedroom. When my  mother lived with us, she would climb the stairs to our shower and exclaim, “well I climbed Mt. Everest today…”. 

I do have one other thought. I sometimes feel that I’m reaching a new level in my walk with the Lord…. making some progress, overcoming some obstacles, and I’m almost at that new level. If I can just keep going I will have arrived at a new “base camp”. It’s taken some work and sacrifice, but I’m doing better…. my spiritual body is acclimating to the new atmosphere. If I get to that new level, I can rest and acclimate and prepare for the next climb. If I slack off, I’ll tumble down to a lower level and need to start over again. I’m not sure this is a precise theological understanding, but it does strike me at times.

So, let’s not quit when we’re “out of breath” from the climb…. let’s keep putting one foot in front of the other…let’s keep going….feel those new “spiritual red blood vessels being created” that are needed for the next climb.  If we don’t quit, one day we’re going to make it to the summit and experience a view that is out of this world…. and this view will be greater that the view from the summit of Mt. Everest, it will be the view from our heavenly home. And yes, the Holy Spirit will continue to help us on this trek. And it’s going to be good….. Jesus tells us,” I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)