Musings on Spiritual Matters

Sir Edmund tells this story in his book “View From The Summit”.  “Another weekend the expedition was invited to a combined gathering in North Wales with senior members of the Alpine Club.  We were based on the very pleasant Hotel and I arrived a little late only to discover that everyone else had headed off up Snowdon (a mountain).  I had no boots or mountaineering equipment, but set off up the mountain after them in a pair of sand shoes and casual clothing.  I was about halfway up and moving very easily when a properly booted middle-aged gentleman, sporting an Alpine Club badge, appeared out of the mist.  He stopped abruptly, looked aghast at my lack of equipment, and proceeded to give me a thorough dressing down.  I was inexperienced and ill-equipped people such as myself, he told me, who gave the mountains a bad name.  Fuming, he disappeared down the hill and out of sight.  After a pleasant climb I returned to the hotel.  I was greeted by my expedition companions and introduced to our Alpine Club hosts.  Soon I was shaking the rather limp hand of the gentleman who had berated me on the mountainside.”

This is a funny story.  An amateur mountain climber dares to scold the man who just finished climbing the highest mountain in the world.

Sometimes our judgments of people are too swift.  We make impressions of people too quickly.  We miss the depth of character, conviction of faith, and work ethic because we assume some sense of superiority.  This poor man must have felt foolish shaking the hand of one of the finest mountaineers in history.  James 1:19 states “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”  The rebuking hiker should have kept his tongue to himself.

Often an individual does not have all of the information that weights in on various situations.  This does not mean we never make a judgment, but it is always best to be patience before announcing a decreed to someone.

Related posts:

1. Review of “I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church”
2. A Quick Review of Phil Sanders Article “The Emerging Church Movement.”
3. My Clubs
4. 12 Summits in One Summer

Tags:

This entry was posted by Matthew on Thursday, June 28th, 2012 at 11:42 am and is filed under Church News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.