Even the stormiest weather does come to an end
“Come on,” Philemon nudged me, “we are almost there.”
I was too faint to look at him. He had been telling me we were almost there for a long time.
Although I desperately wanted to believe him, experience had taught me otherwise. I remembered the wisdom which says that hope differed makes the heart sick.
Philemon was my experienced mountaineer. He understood mountains and they understood him. Our lives were largely dependent on him.
The journey which had started at about 4am did not seem about to end. We had gone through stiff rock, life threatening glaciers and miles and miles of snow. The pitch darkness had become a full blown day.
We had fallen down a number of times and the one thing tugging at my being was the fear that I would possibly not get to the peak. There was no way history would remember me for a failed attempt at the great Rwenzori.
It did not help matters that I was female and there was a crowd waiting to see if I would make it.
My brother Jake, God bless his big heart, was not only praying and waiting with anxiously, but he had also done everything to prepare, finance and morally support our course to the last point.
And then unlike before, Philemon was actually telling the truth. Right in front of us stood the great Margherita peak; the highest peak.
I was beside myself. We had made it to the top. It did not matter that we had a repeat journey back down. Neither did it matter that the place looked unkempt. What mattered is we had made it.
Oh! The many times these images play out in my mind. Many times I recall the pain and frustration of being in the middle of nowhere; the tenacity to climb higher and higher, enduring the altitude changes, and the extreme conditions. That is how life can be.
Some days seem as bright as the sunny days on the mountain while others feel like repeated long nights full of cold and uncertainty. But we hold onto hope and faith for the end in mind. If in some way you feel pushed to a corner or beaten by rain, find hope. Even the hardest times pass.
Each time I remember the rigors of the mountain and how it all came to pass I find courage on a cold and dark night. I hold my head up high because no pain or frustration lasts forever. The night will always break into a new day and even the stormiest weather does come to an end at some point. Find Hope!
