Mountain and valley


I've been volunteering as a mentor for university students / young working adults for several years. These programmes typically last about half a year, and conclude with some kind of closing or capstone event.

Most mentoring relationships tail off fairly rapidly after the programme ends. But sometimes, it grows into a long term friendship, in which we continue to learn from each other for years. Those are the ones where you can see that we've made a real difference in each other's lives. 


In any self-improvement programme, or even in any relationship, mentoring or otherwise, there are going to be highs and lows. I remember feeling quite inspired myself when I attended an executive management programme several years ago. These programmes typically include some form of coaching/mentoring, on top of the lectures on leadership, purpose and so on.

The programme was amazing. Truly a mountain top experience. The question is, where do all the buzz words like "North Star", "authenticity", "innovation" and "courage" go 12 months after the programme is over? To gather dust on a bookshelf is the usual answer!


It's the same for our Christian walk. Some of us go for big conferences where we are inspired by great sermons and enthusiastic worship. Hey, actually every weekend service is sort of a mini-conference. But where do "obedience", "servanthood", "joy" and "peace" go after that? 

Some people think - what's the point of these mentorship programmes, executive management courses, and big conferences then? Waste of time!

Well - mountain/valley experiences are to be expected. But I've often found them to be essential. Why? What's the point of going up only to come back down later?


Because climbing up that mountain gives a glimpse of what a different "normal life" could be. 

What if I really incorporated creativity and innovation into every aspect of my work? 

What if I really intentionally aligned all my work activities with my "North Star" purpose?

What if I really chose to go about life with deep joy and unshakeable peace?

What if I really chose to serve others and share the Good News? 


Maybe I will end up coming down from that summit after that conference or course. I probably will. But now I know a little more about what the summit looks like. And if I choose to actually do something about it, I can live a life that looks a little more like life at the summit. 

Then regularly, I can choose to ascend that summit again. Refresh my memory. Then make another change so that another part of life looks more like life at the summit. And again, and again.


As long as the level I return to is a little higher than the valley I started out from, I'm climbing. I know what the summit looks like. I know where it is. And I can head there. 

At some point, I might even find that the valley I return to is now higher than the first peak I climbed. I'd have normalised summit life. Then it'd be time to look for the next mountain.



What is "summit life"? 

For some of us, maybe it's about a healthy lifestyle - a better diet or a regular exercise regime. I just went running with my wife this morning. I remember that when we first started running together as a couple several years ago, I used to complain that her pace was too slow, and that I had to awkwardly half-walk/half-jog to keep at the same pace as her. 

But at one point, she became fast enough that she actually won her office running competition - and this was the open category, not just the "veteran"! This year, at the first post-Covid edition of that competition, she ended up 7th or something. So she's off her summit. But running with her this morning - well, there's no way I can afford to walk and still keep up with her. Her valley is where her old summit used to be.


What about our spiritual life? Do we spend time with God everyday? Do we obey when He speaks? Do we serve the poor, preach the gospel, love the church, and love our neighbour? 

Way back in 2005, I decided that our family would start serving in missions. Our kids were literal babies, so I picked what I thought was a comparatively "easy" location in a metropolitan city in Asia. Even then it seemed impossible, hauling milk powder, diapers, prams and wailing babies around. But we survived, descended from the summit, and returned to Singapore.


The next year, having now established "base camp" standards, we upped our game to serve in a more remote city (and some remote villages) in another country. Over the next several years, we returned to those villages about once a year. But for various reasons, that work also receded, and for a number of years, we didn't head out anywhere on missions. We had retreated from the summit.

But in 2019, an opportunity came up to serve again. We had already experienced what a "one-off" mission felt like. We had also experienced what regular annual missions felt like. It was time to move upward. And so for the last few years, we've been going multiple times per year, intentionally making meaningful connections with our friends over there, and even holding services and cell groups. Our old summit had become our valley. It was time to ascend a new summit.


So. Mountain and valley experiences are to be expected. When we first ascend a new peak, the air is a bit too thin, the slopes a bit too steep. So we retreat. But now, crucially, we know what the peak looks like. We can return, more ready. Step by step we ascend, descend, advance, retreat, but each time, we climb higher. Until our new valley is our old peak.

What's stopping us from this steady ascent?

Only the will to ascend. Then fail. Then return. Stronger.


The best thing about it is this - as Christians, we have One who has already gone before us to show the way. We also have a "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 11:1-2) of our predecessors and brothers and sisters in the faith who have embarked on this trek, following after Jesus. 

There is a way. He has made it. We just need to follow. To go. And go again. And again!

I lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber.
Psalm 121:1-3

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, 
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; 
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength, 
till each appears before God in [the mountain of] Zion.
Psalm 84:5-7

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