Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. ~ Psalm 24:3-4
“Slow and steady, slow and steady.”
My cousin Darby whispered these words of encouragement between breaths as we climbed the sheer face with packs weighted with my New Mexico mule deer. I’m not sure if his words were meant to encourage me or self-talk his way up the mountain— but it worked.
Similarly, I once asked my father-in-law how he marched for so many miles with such heavy pack loads during his Vietnam days as a Marine, and his similar response branded my memory, “Slow and steady, slow and steady.”
If hope and anticipation characterize the trailhead mindset, then pain and resistance describe the climb. Just as a man is ignorant at the trailhead exactly once, so is the memory of a grueling climb. Afterward, he knows what to expect, an inanimate mountain doesn’t change, only the man. But if the pain is too great or resistance too negative he may never climb again.
Nevertheless, resistance and pain are part of the climb. Quitting is tantalizing during pain. Who will ever know if I turn back before the top anyway? It’s my climb. It’s my hike. It’s my life. Who cares?
But when it comes to manhood, many lives are at stake. The stakes are higher than the climb itself.
Males are anatomically similar, but not every male is a man. The world is full of men who see the looming pain of the mountain of manhood and choose the low road. Others, sadly, begin the climb, but can’t hack it. They drop their families along the way like an overloaded pack. Like a Mt. Everest carcass from days gone by, everyone who passes sees the carnage of his decision to remain a mere male.
Manhood is tough.
Dare I say it’s the most difficult mountain a man will ever climb? Too late, I just said it! Any man who’s made the journey will admonish younger men to train hard and pack light. Listen to the wisdom of the writer of Hebrews, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).
I love it.
Fight the resistance. Ignore the pain that produces passion, strength, and perseverance. Succumbing to the forces weighing us down results in weakness, attrition, and indifference—apathy.
Apathy is simply a loss of feeling or callousness. Callouses form when our body loses its ability to resist function, seen often on the hardened hands of a construction worker. While useful over the workings man’s hands, the callused heart leaves a wake of pain and brokenness.
A man’s most defining moment is when he wakes up, looks in the mirror, and decides to fight every force whispering to him that the mountain of manhood can wait until tomorrow. Put on your boots today and start the grueling climb up the mountain of manhood one step at a time, “Slow and steady.”
Slow and steady.
