“Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest..."

Jesus took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up the mountain to pray.

Luke 9:28

         And Jesus said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)

Mark 6:31

I am coming, Lord,

Climbing up the mountain;

You’ve bid me to come away

And be with You there.

High above, where the air is clear

I’m surrounded by natural beauty;

And on that mount

There is peace.

I am coming, Lord,

Seeking Your glorious presence;

You alone

Have words of eternal life.

Promising my soul

Will find its rest;

I unload my heavy burdens,

For Yours is light.

I remember, Lord,

The mount where You died;

Bringing glory to the Father

In Your passion.

Your precious blood

Gave me everlasting life;

The darkness lifted,

As You rose in triumph.

I am here, Lord,

Beholding Your shining splendor;

Reigning from Your throne,

Ablaze with flames of fire.

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done on earth.

Praise You, for bringing me

Into Your kingdom of Light.

Show me Your glory, I pray!

The glory of the only begotten Son;

Let me behold Your glorious face

Shining like the sun in all its brilliance.

C. TAYLOR

The part which mountains play in the life of our Lord is interesting. The great sermon, the manifesto of the King, was delivered on a mount. On a mount He apparently often went to teach and to preach. We learn that on one occasion when He came nigh to the Sea of Galilee He went up into a mountain and sat down there and great multitudes came to Him. It is a no less significant fact that before choosing the Twelve He did the like. When He sought to escape from the unwise enthusiasm of the crowd after the miracle of the loaves the mountain was His refuge. Most of all He sought the solitude of the lonely hills for prayer. The mountains afforded Him His favorite oratory, where He spent whole nights in prayer. The impression which these statements make on us is that He was often up the mountain, lingering in its lonely recesses, and finding amid their grandeur and majesty that sympathy which He could not get in the busy haunts of men.

         Nowhere else do we get more completely away from the world and its influence than on a mountain. The literal fact that we are then above the world is deeply significant of the spiritual. The mountains are the true cloisters of the Church…On the mount, with the world literally at our feet and heaven all around us, we have the solitude which alone is endurable and which alone is inspiring; the solitude which Jesus found so desirable and which He constantly sought: a solitude which is lost in the consciousness of an innumerable company of angels, of the spirits of just men made perfect, and of the very presence of God Himself.

         But, you say, no mountain rises at my door; what must I do therefore? Undoubtedly this is your loss; there is nothing that can take its place. It has no substitute. And yet there is a Holy Mount accessible to all who care to climb it, just as every man finds his Gethsemane somewhere, even though it be not among olive trees. Every disciple may find the hill of God somewhere; it may be in his own house, it may be in the lofty cathedral, or it may be in the humblest of sanctuaries. If anywhere he can be alone with God, there he may find the Holy Mount. And it should be his holy ambition to reach its summit—to present himself to God at the top of the Mount, where he may enjoy the fullness of the blessing.

JAMES HASTINGS

Luke