What I see at the summit

What I see at the summit is never totally clear because of the fog. And also because of the size of it. The best I can describe it is that it is some sort of construction site in a jungle. A dense jungle entangled with gnarled branching, undergrowth, suffocating foliage as far as I can see, which is not far because of the fog. But from that vantage point you can feel the jungle's immensity and darkness, as well as its attractiveness. I can't explain it.

But what I mean by construction is ... well, there's something else there. A grouping of rock; some pattern of intent; some suggestion of order that could not have just been by chance. Mostly you feel that too. You feel it more than you see it. But you see enough of it to wonder.

A simulacrum, a scrim, of order.

I say construction and I say order because I am hopeful. But just by looking at this scrim of stones, you really can't tell if the activity took place long ago, so that, now, the whole thing is nothing but a ruin. (Indeed, some of the materials seem to have been quite expensive at one time, but now lie dissembled in rough piles).

Or if the activity is in process, as if there is something to look forward to.

My guide tells me it is, indeed, something to look forward to. And I can see that he takes encouragement from it. My guide is a rugged old man; years of manual labor of some kind are sketched on his hands and face. In my ascents, he of the guides I've been with is among the quieter ones. And when he does speak, his words are somewhat disjointed, his thoughts not quite fluently expressed from one sentence to the next.

"The history of this place is complicated," he said. "There are two histories. One is of futile attempts to build cities, passed down from generation to generation."

"To build cities?" I ask.

"Yes," he said, "futile attempts passed down through the years."

"And the other?"

"Well, this whole place used to be a garden. And the foundation stone has been placed to indeed build a city here. This plan has also been passed down through the generations."

"A city in a garden?" I said.

"A city in a garden," he said.

"Where are these plans?" I asked.

His smile was warm, but distant, as if seeing something I could not yet see. "They are now in us," he said. "Even the angels can't quite figure out how."

Logos2Go

1 Peter 1.18 ... knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold ...

Job 38:4-6 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. "Who determined its measurements--surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone ... ?

Isaiah 28.16 "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.'

Matthew 21.42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

Acts 4.11 "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

1 Peter 2.6-7 For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone ..."

1 Peter 1.10-12 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.