Peering Through the Mist

            As we drove through the Golan Heights our guide said, “You can’t see it, but to the left is Mt. Hermon.”  We had started off the morning being rained upon at Caesarea Philippi.  As we moved up the mountains into the Golan Heights we entered into a thick white cloudbank.  In any direction you looked, you could see no more than ten or fifteen feet.  The driver of our bus was visibly straining to concentrate on the road ahead of us, looking for any obstacles or hazards that could loom up in front of us with no warning.  After having been told about how beautiful the Golan Heights area was, it became difficult not to get upset that we could not see it at all.

            As Christians, we have to remember that we don’t always get a clear view of what is around us.  We travel our pilgrim path through this world, and at times we find ourselves in a dense fog.  We can’t see far in any direction and it can become very easy to lose our way.  We strain to peer through the mist in order to catch even a small glimpse that might point us in the way that we should go.

            These fogs can happen for many reasons.  Sometimes our sins blind us to the path.  Other times it is simply our human nature; we can’t know everything.  Sometimes it is a darkness that comes from God who shields our sight so that we can learn to trust and love Him better.  In any case, the answer is always the same:  follow in the ways that God has given to us and trust in the path taught to us by Christ.  Psalm 119 sings the praises of God and says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (v. 105).  God sent His Word to us, Jesus Christ, to show us the way home.  He will lead us through valleys and over mountains.  He will show us great vistas and take our hand to move us through blinding fog.  We simply need to trust in Him, and follow His path: the path of charity towards our neighbors, the path of love of God, even the path of the Cross.