Day 23 – Attention

I was one of ten eager travelers who strained our necks as we drove into El Chaltén village. The object of our search was a pile of granite rocks. It was not just any pile of rocks. This one was considered worthy enough to prompt us to board planes and fly many long hours to photograph it. Well not just this mountain but many other points of interest were also on the itinerary. El Chaltén village is nestled at the base of Mount Fitz Roy. It lays in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field on the border between Argentina and Chile. In fact, the border passes over the main summit of the mountain. We had already spent three days with our cameras, a guide, and two instructors, honing our photographic skills.

Did we see the granite monolith for which we searched? No, all we could see was a veil of gray clouds.

Erickson says, “Have you not witnessed something in the material world that made your soul whisper, ‘I think Someone’s trying to get my attention’” (176)?

I heard that whisper during the quiet time I spent trying to listen to what God wanted me to hear as I struggled with what to share in this blog. The problems we had photographing Mount Fitz Roy kept coming back to me. I paid attention to the promptings.

Follow along with me as I describe the days we spent at El Chaltén.

On the first day I left the hotel and trekked to the edge of town where we should have been able to see Mount Fitz Roy. Camera in hand I waited for more than an hour. The clouds played games with the mountain. There was an occasional suggestion that a sliver of granite was trying to cut through the shroud, but that was all. Day one was a loss.

Day two started with seven hopeful photographers tumbling out of the van at the “spot.” According to our two instructors, this was the place to be when the rising sun would bath the gray mountain in glorious shades of rosy pink and gold.

The clouds had other ideas. They let us see bits and pieces of granite. There were only tantalizingly suggestions of the shape of the majestic rocks that reached to the heavens.

A return to the spot later in the afternoon was a repeat of the same game with the clouds. At times, a bit more of the stony spikes of granite was captured. But we were impatient. We wanted more.

Would day three give us a complete appreciation of the magnificence that is Mount Fitz Roy? In the morning we were able to photograph Fitz Roy shrouded by gray clouds.

The reason the pictures I took are keepers is because of the cross which defined the foreground. It was crudely constructed out of a twisted tree truck. The grayness of the day and the twisted cross spoke of the agony our Savior suffered.

A shrouded mountain told the story more eloquently than words could express.

Day three ended at the “spot.” The setting sun was painting the clouds shades of gold. They still flitted about like playful butterflies, very large butterflies, but they did not detract from the splendor of the moment. We were able to capture Mount Fitz Roy, only gently kissed by the gauzy, golden clouds.  It was bathed in the most glorious shades of gold. Yes, day three was a photographer’s dream. The truth of Mount Fitz Roy was ours to see. It was ours to capture.

I looked up and paid attention to the mountain. I saw its granite arms reaching to the heavens.

Now I look inward and pay attention to what my Heavenly Counselor has for me to notice.

During the last few weeks there have been conversations with the Artist that painted that golden mountain. I had a request that seemed urgent. All I could hear was, “Wait.” Wait, why? The reason was shrouded in obscurity. My timetable was not God’s. The frustration and yes, anger, clouded any clarity that might have been there for me to see. Then, it came. The outcome was clear and unequivocal, as clear as the golden granite mountain.

With considerable humility I must admit that trusting the Divine timetable is difficult. My urgency is not shared by God. A God of love knows better than do I. When the answer comes it will be even better than I can imagine.

While I wait for that answer, I will pay attention to the world around me. It is possible the answer is just waiting to be found. Clarity is a process, and it doesn’t always come like a bolt of lightning.

Wait. The golden glow of clearer insight will come when God knows we need it and not when we want it.

”The wonder in God-with-Us is found in paying attention to the exterior patterns that illuminate the patterns within” (Erickson, p. 177).