Last Friday, I arose early to take a brisk walk before work. The hour was 5:30 am and although a hot day was predicted, the breeze was cool and pleasant. The sun was just coming up over Mount Timpanogos, and the world was unbelievably quiet; so healing and peaceful that I felt with one deep breath, I could blow out all of life's pressures and concerns and be free of them forever.
Timpanogos has long been my favorite mountain. I honestly feel that the Swiss Alps could not be more beautiful than the many faces of "Timp". In one of my favorite poems there is a phrase that reads, "Give me amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills." While our days are filled with deadlines, phone calls, appointments, and all kinds of confusion, it is our charge to find peace and solace where we can.
The rugged beauty of Mount Timpanogos was created by years of erosion. The weather beating, winds blowing, rain pounding, and snow melting all helped to give the mountain its character. Can you imagine how boring "Timp" would be if its walls were smooth? It is absurd to even think of it. Despite its varied terrain, "Timp" stands resolute and strong, almost like it is watching over us. Right now it boasts the green of an approaching summer. In a few short months it will bear the splashing colors of fall. And after that it will be covered in a blanket of white snow. I find this most comforting; like an old friend who will never desert me. When I lived back East, I felt almost naked without Mount Timpanogos' watchful eye nearby.
Just as rain, snow and wind beat away at the mountains, we have trials, troubles and problems that beat away at us. And, like Mount "Timp", they can build our character in ways we never dreamed possible. I see examples of this every day at the bank. Take for instance the family who moved here with a daughter who was blind from birth. They have learned lessons in patience that most of us don't understand. Or the young man who comes in to visit me who had a massive stroke, leaving one side of his body badly handicapped. His wife left him, so he lives alone now while trying to remain close to his five children. I am sure that he has found strength he never knew he had. Many cancer victims relate stories of how their families have pulled together to help in any way possible to get through treatments and surgeries. As a result, their families have become stronger and more unified. And I see people each day who have lost almost everything in this recession through no fault of their own. I am sure they are developing thrifty habits to survive that they never would have learned any other way.
None of us knows what challenges we may have to face in the future. But it is my hope that I can master whatever situations which may arise with the same strength and dignity I see every day when I look at Mount Timpanogos.
-Kathy Christensen
Survivor
Member, Lifting Hearts
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