Scripture is rife with stories of encounters with God on mountain heights. In our lessons today, for example, we find references to: ”the holy mountain,” “the mountain of God,” “Mount Sinai,” “holy hill of Zion,” and “a high mountain” as places of theophany, of God’s appearance. Numinous experiences, encounters with the Holy One, lift us out of the ordinary feeling of time and space, so much so that folks tend to call them “mountain-top experiences” no matter where they take place. Such encounters may be more easily recognized when we are indeed on a mountain top with all creation spread out before us, when we have climbed out of the day-to-day to offer ourselves to God. God, however, isn’t limited by geography. We may experience that “Majestic Glory” wherever we are, whatever we may be doing (you name it: walking on the beach or sailing the ocean blue, in our homes cooking, doing laundry, scrubbing the bathroom floor, gardening, washing the car, in our workplaces), whenever we are ready to accept the transforming grace of God into our hearts and lives. Time and place are not barriers to the revelation of the presence of the Beloved*. Closed hearts are. Hard hearts, self-centered hearts, unrepentant hearts, unforgiving hearts keep us from realizing God’s love in our midst, from noticing the holy mountain beneath our feet. Life has a way of shaking up our hearts, sometimes with a 2 X 4, if that’s what it takes to enable us to see that we can no longer avoid meeting the Great Awakener*, the Giver of Breath and Life*, who is always reaching out to us in love. On the other hand, we can always meet God half-way. We can choose to spend time with God, welcoming the Divine Nurturer*, the Gentle Healer* into our awareness. When we focus on our relationship with God, worshiping, praying, listening to the word of God, journaling, centering in God’s presence, praising in music-dance-art, sharing with soul sisters or brothers--our anamcharas or soul friends, going on retreat, making pilgrimage, writing or contemplating icons, enjoying the creation of the Creator, whatever activities that we find draw us closer to God, we discover there are mountain-top experiences in the here and now of our daily lives. We too can know God on the holy mountain. *These lovely titles for God come from Nan Merrill’s Psalms for Praying.