Perhaps you've heard or seen this John Muir quote on a t-shirt or mug, "The mountains are calling and I must go."

Muir is known as the "Father of National Parks." Born in Scotland, he later moved to Wisconsin to become an inventor and quality control guy by trade. But his love for adventure, wild landscapes, and rugged crags and cliffs continued as he “botanized” at every opportunity.  

When an industrial accident left him temporarily blind, the result was a new seeing: “I made haste with all my heart, bade adieu to all thoughts of inventing machinery, and determined to devote the rest of my life to studying the inventions of God.” 

The Almighty called. 

Muir felt His breath stirring through the Sequoias, and heard His voice in the "sound of many waters" roaring over the 2,500-foot Yosemite Falls. As he dangled precariously over the top in order to observe the motion of the water, it is said that he exclaimed, “Where could a mountaineer find a more glorious death!” 

Calling the wild dangers of wilderness "sanctum sanctorum," or "holy of holies," he preached, "Try the mountain passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action.” 

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LOVE the Word® is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice: lectio without the Latin. Get the book based on Sonja’s method in the right margin, How to Pray Like Mary.  

L | Listen (Receive the Word via audio or video.)

O | Observe (Connect the passage to your life and recent events.)

The "secret place of the Most High" is said by the psalmist to be the protective "shadow of the Almighty." Do you ever wonder where - in the untamed wilderness of the Mountain - the Lord's protection for you is? It's primarily in His mercy: "You overlook men's sins, that they may repent ... You spare all things for they are yours, O Lord, who love the living" (Wis 11:22-26). What do you want to say to Him about that?    

V | Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)

Remembering that He loves you and that you are in His presence, talk to God about the particulars of your O – Observe step. You may want to write your reflections in your LOVE the Word® journal. Or, get a free journal page and guide in the right-hand margin.

E | Entrust (Rest in the Word.)

Almighty God, grant us the grace to hope in you with unwavering trust, that we may draw close enough to experience the "too wonderful" of you. As we begin this season of Advent, may our hearts be filled with the hope and wonder that comes from knowing your promises are true. Amen +

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What We Discussed | Show Notes

Overview:

Minutes 00:00-12:00 – Isaiah 9; the secret place; Psalm 91 

Minutes 12:01-24:00 – Almighty God, El Shaddai; theophany as word and presence; the flaming sword that guards the Garden's glory; the Word allows entrance to the secret place

Minutes 24:01-36:00 – "knowing" = intimacy; the shadow of the mountain; the Cosmic Butler; temptation to demand that God suspend natural laws 

Minutes 36:01-48:00 – fallen from glory; judgment falls on the serpent, not the children; glory of God restored to man; Moses and the cleft of the rock

Transcript

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