Imagine a camping trip with three teen-age young ladies who had never camped out before. Never pitched a tent. Never cooked over a campfire. Never tried to sleep through a night filled with creature noises.
To make things more challenging for all, I was trying to get past some really bad times in my life. Prescribed drug dependency. Depression. Withdrawal. Terrible downers.
We had made it from Misouri to the high country in Colorado near the summit of Monarch Pass. It was a peaceful place, a lovely stream rippled behind our campsite.
The weather was perfect and we relished life together.
But late that night a storm swept down the mountain. High winds. A deluge of rain, hail and ferocious lightning and thunder. There we were, in tents that threatened to blow away. In tents that did not protect us from rain which soaked the inside of our tent and our sleeping bags. The girls, my wife, and I were terrified.
But as quickly as the storm attacked our campsite, it was gone, moving slowly into the valley, rumbling east and away from our campsite.
I found it impossible to sleep and left the tent to go to the edge of the campground where I sat on a rock to watch the storm slowly make its way toward Canyon City. I looked over my left shoulder and saw a brilliant white light in the inky blackness of a starless night. I could not understand what the light was and was captivated by its slow emergence. Suddenly I realized that it was a snow-capped mountain reflecting the rising sun to the east. It was an amazing birth of a new day and I was captivated by the scene.
As dawn grew into daylight I noticed something else: all the footprints from the day before had been washed away. It was as though yesterday had never happened and the bright new day was starting out completely without blemish.
Then I realized that life is like that. God, in a marvelous way, can do away with the ugliness of life - our worst times - and start us off anew into a bright new day of opportunity and optimism. That's what happened to me. I felt a new sense of peace
and joy - a new sense of hope and a resolve for the days ahead. Depression, frustration, dependency on artificial crutches were gone, and life became a joy. To say the least, a wonderful door opened to new and exciting things.
I like to think of that mountaintop as my Easter Experience. A form of resurrection, if I can put it that way. It's something that was a life changing experience in which life since has become rich snd positive. So, if I may say this, I think that God can provide marvelous and beautiful personal experiences comparable to the Biblical story of Christ's persecution, death, and resurrection. Have a blessed Easter and allow God and Jesus to get the credit they deserve.
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