No Halfway Points

It is Valentine's Day, which many people believe was named after St. Valentine, who was beheaded for defying evil Claudius the Cruel. However, this is a common mistake. It was actually celebrated to honor my mom, who was born Feb. 14, eighty years ago today, and exemplifies patient, gentle, love. In her honor, millions flock to florists and candy stores to remind their beloveds to be more like my Mom.

In honor of this momentous occasion, my brother and his wife Jenny are hosting a lavish home cooked meal for my parents. Unfortunately, my nephew, their son Anthony, has been puking for three days. He seems to be turning the corner after an ER visit to rehydrate him, but we are thinking 80 year olds, even saints, might not best celebrate by taking home three day puking germs.

So, John was home with his ailing son and couldn't ski with Asherel and me. We had planned it earlier, but the weather tossed up lake effect snow and hazardous driving. So we postponed it until last night. Greek Peak, the ski mountain just 40 minutes from my folks' home, is where my brother and my sister learned to ski. I would like to know why no one invited me. As an adult, learning to ski just 2 years ago, I absolutely love it and think I might have loved it more had I learned as a youth when bone breaking wasn't so ever present a hovering consideration. But for whatever reason, my siblings learned to ski...while I didn't. However, as Asherel and I rode the chairlift to the very top of the mountain, above us the red planet nestled among a cacophony of sparkling stars, the pine trees standing sentinel on either side of us, and the silence settling like a prayer all around us, I forgave them. Who could harbor any thought but gratitude in the presence of such beauty? Gratitude, and of course, pounding, absolute fear. My heart was galloping as we neared the mountain top. I had never skied down a whole mountain.

"Can we get off at the halfway point?" I had asked the chair lift manager.
"There is no halfway point."
"You have to go all the way to the top?"
"Yep."
"But there is an easy trail all the way down?"
"Oh yes."
"Is it clearly marked?"
"Yes."
"We won't miss it and end up on a black diamond run?"
"No, it is the main trail. Just stay on the main drag and you will be fine."
I wanted to gather more information, but Asherel was growing impatient.
"You worry a lot," she told me.

So it was all or nothing. I got on the chairlift and rode up up up to my fate.
My fear was not so much the skiing, as the view. I am afraid of heights and develop vertigo when I look over the edge of high places. What if I got vertigo at the top of the mountain? As it turned out, however, Greek Peak was perfect for beginners. The trail curved amid pine forests, and at least from the trail we skied, there was no plummeting, heart stopping vista of a wide open valley. It was the perfect challenge for my skiing skills, without being too scary, and we skied it several times before our legs told us it was time to go home.

All or nothing paid off. It often does. It is rarely worthwhile to go into any endeavor half-way. That seems a particularly appropriate message for Valentine's Day. Relationships rarely thrive when we don't give our all. It is true of human relationships and it is true of our relationship with God. He warns us that lukewarm devotion doesn't cut it. We must be willing to give up everything for Him, but paradoxically, we will gain eternity. It is harder than you think. It is like riding to the top of a mountain that you are certain will cause you to pass out in terror and discovering instead, that the subsequent ride down is ecstasy.

Happy Birthday, beloved Mom! May the joy of the day be like skiing without fear straight down a mountain while the stars and planets applaud.

Psalm 73:25
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

1 John 2: 15-17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.


-save a dog- hollowcreekfarm.org