Peaks and Valleys

I had someone ask me about my peaks and valleys of the last year. The more I thought I about it, the harder it was to come up with an answer, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I mean everyone talks about peaks and valleys in their life as if they are the normal natural way of things. It's as if not having them means there's something wrong.

But what's the basis of the view of reality?

I like to think I base my view of reality upon Jesus, and maybe I'm missing something (I frequently am) but he doesn't seem to talk about peaks and valleys and certainly not about the need for there to be an annual peak and valley experience.

This is not to say life has been one fantastic peak for the past year or a horrible valley either. Life has been (cheesy metaphor alert) a journey of learning.

I feel like in the last year I have learned about God's perspective of the differences between rich and poor and about the pitfalls of nationalism. I've gained a new perspective and appreciation for the church as God's instrument for working in the world. I've learned a little more about what it means for God's eternal kingdom to begin now and not after we die.

Some of my moments of learning have been quite jarring, unsettling even, but they don't fit nicely into the peak or valley department. They haven't been the height of emotion either positively or negatively, but unlike those moments, they've had endurance.

I'm not sure how I feel about peaks and valleys. I like the peaks and I appreciate the valleys once I've passed through them. But so much of the time what I remember of them is the emotional charge that came from them and not anything that has stuck with me.

(I usually start these things thinking I'll just write something short and sweet and then it turns into something long and drawn out. I had written more, but I was just rambling, so I'll call it day with what I've got.)