Called to the Mountains

 

This is the title of an autobiography that I read during my vacation. Ralph W. Beiting tells some of his own life’s story and the founding of the Christian Appalachian Project. It was a paperback and not on my Kindle! Each chapter began with the word “called.” I am going to post on my blog for a while excerpts, ideas, and my own responses to this delightful book.

In 1964 Beiting founded the Christian Appalachian Project (CAP). Its stated purpose (quoting from his own autobiography) was, “…Offering long-term, self-help solutions to the problems that hold Appalachia’s people back, CAP gives the poor a chance to work themselves out of poverty.” [Preface]

I cannot imagine spending a lifetime working with the poor and trying to alleviate poverty. This would be indeed a special calling, and Ralph W. Beiting’s story is his response to such a calling. The first chapter is entitled: “Prologue: Called to the Mountains.” It is in these initial few pages that he has the following wonderful passage about growing older:

“We often think that the future is the focus of the young, but the young live for the present. When you get to be my age (I think he was 70 when he wrote this), you think about the future and what lies ahead. I have never felt as frail as I do at this point in my life. Getting old is not tragedy. It means, after all, that with every day I grow closer to meeting God in heaven” (page 3).

What an admirable and beautiful way to see getting older! The aches and pains provide the context for our vocabulary and narratives we share back and forth. And I suppose misery loves company, and shared misery is half the misery of getting older!

However, may we never forget two things that Beiting points out here:

1. Growing older is not a tragedy. It is a blessing. Each day becomes more precious and each relationship more sacred as time goes by!


2. Every day we grow closer to meeting God in heaven. We cannot even imagine the joy of being in the Divine Presence forever!

It was interesting to me that Beiting’s example demonstrates that having a passionate calling here and now gives meaning and purpose to the process of getting older. Yes, the “ravages of time” rage on. But, the purpose of eternity blooms and blossoms in our hearts as we passionately respond to the calling that God has laid on each of our hearts. May we be true to that individual calling!

In Christian love, Curtis