I took this picture when I was climbing Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. Table Mountain is 1,086 m above sea level. It took me 2 hours to climb from the bottom to the top – and that wasn’t even the long route. In addition to getting some much needed exercise, it was an overwhelming experience to set my goal at the foot of the mountain, as my eyes were fixated at the top of the mountain, and to continue to push towards my goal despite fatigue and urges to settle for simply reaching a plateau near the top.

The closest man can get to the heavens through their own efforts, void of machine or man-made technology, is climbing to the highest peak of a mountain. I now understand why the prophets of the past climbed mountains – to be in the presence of God. Moses met God on Mount Sinai and was given the ten commandments; when the great prophet Elijah found out the Jezebel wanted to kill him, he fled to the Mount Herob and prayed for God; Christ himself gave one of his greatest “sermon” on the mountain and taught his disciples on Mount of Olives.

I guess in life we all should find our own mountains to climb – our own strenuous climb to a high place – to find clarity, for a moment of solitude, or just for the exercise. But in the end, we must climb back down to reality.