On top of the world

60 years ago today, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, his Sherpa guide, became the first people successfully to ascend and descend Mount Everest. Because I was too young at the time to know that this had happened (and we were living in Japan), it was not until I was about 6, when we returned to England, that I learned of this achievement. But when I did learn about it, I was very excited.

These days, hundreds make the journey to the top of the world and back. In the light of this anniversary, efforts are being made to clean up the Base Camp, and to preserve the pristine beauty of the mountain peak.

For most people in today's world, there is no prospect of being able to go on such an expedition. The cost and the physical demands of such a trip, let alone the time required to prepare for it and then make the ascent, all conspire together to making this impossible. 

St. Paul describes another astonishing conquest, when he is writing to his friends in Rome. Having listed a catalogue of difficulties and problems, Paul speak of the reality for Christians.

'Overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans 8.37-39)

Today, we may face a selection of Paul's menu of difficulties. But the 'on top of the world' reality is that overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 

When climbers train for their challenge, they have to learn to trust their equipment, and use it the way it was designed to help them. That takes time and practice.

For followers of Jesus, as we remember the reality that overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us, we too must train ourselves to live to keep trusting Jesus to make a moment-by-moment difference in our experience. Today, we can live knowing that nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Best wishes,

Richard