Wollaton Park, 8.30am on Sunday morning: cold, crunchy frost, long shadows and dazzling sunlight. It was beautiful. Almost empty of people, deer battling through the white to get to the grass. A time to walk, to pray, to identify specific thoughts and yearnings and hear the whispered questions of God which burrow down to the root and suggests solutions.
I've been missing Tanzania a lot and I was only there for 1 week in September 2011! Something about Mt Kilimanjaro has dug deep into my soul and given me a thirst for magnificence and beauty. I crave standing and looking at the Mountain. Its size; the challenge of the steep slopes, the life on its gentle slopes - it has captured me.
People nonchalantly go about their lives in the shadow of the Mountain - multiple towns in Tanzania and Kenya are in the 'Kilimanjaro' region, and it is visible for miles. There must be a forgetfulness among locals of what they are living near - it is normal to them. And yet it represents a splendour that is breathtaking for those who are seeking to be there. Countless travellers spend thousands of pounds to climb the Mountain. Accidental visitors, like me, stumble across the region and are consumed by its presence.
My hosts in Tanzania, William and Eunice (friends from Sawyers Church in Brentwood) have lived in Moshi for years, and help run Berea Bible College which trains local church leaders (a lot of them are Maasai warriors). 1 or 2 special evenings were spent with W&E walking around Moshi airfield, long since abandoned for any actual flight; walking the flat, warm ground under the watchful gaze of the incredible Mountain mere miles away. The shadow cast by Kili as the sun set was extraordinary, and reached even us.
Another day, I took a matatu part way up the mountain for a coffee tour on the slopes. Mike, my guide, showed me the entire process of growing, picking, drying and roasting coffee which was an absolute dream. We passed a trading centre and he told me that the coffee would be sold fairtrade to Starbucks and Cafe Direct. Simple people going about life for multiple generations, handling the beans that would then be drunk in Starbucks - amazing.
These experiences have deepened my life and birthed a need for beauty. I yearn for breathtaking moments of awe and enjoyment. There are obvious parallels between Mount Kili and our great God. An experience of Him deepens our lives and causes a hunger for more. We can become thoughtless and apathetic in the presence of God, not realising that our nearness to the Mountain is envied and sought by many. He provides a home for those living near Him. His influence and 'shadow' reaches indiscriminately.
The Mountain has taught me something about God. And yet, Kilimanjaro is only a servant of the Lord, a creation of His hand, just like you and I. At His command, this almighty structure would crumble. The permanence of the Mountain is subject to the will of the eternal God.
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2
