FredMcKinnon.Com

Hey Everybody -

This is Part 2 of “What I Learned on the Mountain” … if you missed Part 1, check it out here.

Markers and Memories

As best as I can tell, it had been nearly 20 years since I climbed this mountain and stood on this summit.  There was a driving force inside of me that wanted to return to that place I’d been before.  That place was so special, bringing some great memories I’d experienced with friends in high school.

It’s amazing how our memory works.  I second-guessed my memory on the initial hike and went the wrong direction.  For nearly 10 minutes I kept walking but my memory was saying two things.  “Fred, I think you used to park and walk ACROSS the road you drove in on to get on the trail”.  “Fred, this hike is constantly going downhill – don’t you remember how it was a constant climb”?

I reversed course, and realized I was finally headed in the right direction. The closer I got to the top, the more my heart began to race.  (I’m out of shape and a good 60-70 pounds heavier than last time I climbed, so my heart was going to race regardless!)  I was amazed at how “familiar” everything was.  When the summit was only about 30 yards away I was smiling and racing – it looked exactly the same.

At the top of Springer Mountain there are two markers.  One marker is a plaque fixed in the stone – marking the beginning of the trail which leads from that very point all the way to Maine.  I stood there, gazing at these markers with a wave of memories and joy flooding through my soul.  As the snow was falling, I had to bend down and touch the markers with my fingers – running my hands over the cold stone and remembering the special times I’d spent on that mountain.

Our relationship with God and our history as Christians is certainly full of special moments and times – markers in our Christian timeline.  As a worship leader, I couldn’t help but think of song selection.  All of us have songs that are “markers” for us.  We call those songs “reservoir” songs at SSCC.  Deep songs, the ones that connect and bring meaning and memories.  The ones that cause us to look back and remember what God has done in our lives.

The hike I had this week and the resulting memories inspired me to try harder to honor the markers in the lives of others.  As worship leaders, we tend to stick with the songs that our cool to us.  We lean on the “latest and greatest”.  We are driven by pride, ego, and peer pressure to stay away from the “old” songs.  Hymns?  What hymns?

I know that each person in our congregation has a song or liturgical experience that is a “marker” to them.  It’s one that they wish to return to.  We have the ability to take people back to their markers.  To give them the awe-inspiring moment to “remember when”.  Maybe it’s an old song like “I Exalt Thee” or “As The Deer”.  Maybe it’s an ancient hymn.  Maybe it’s reciting “The Lord’s Prayer” or “The Apostles Creed”.

I’d like to challenge all who are in leadership to consider this lesson.  Will you apply it?

Now, think back on your own “markers”.  Maybe it’s a song, an event, a day … share your “marker” here in the comments.  Do you have a way to return there?