I’m reading this book, I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes, by Glenn Clark, published in 1937. It was in a box of books our mom had, I’m not sure where she got it. In the front is stamped “Springfield Lutheran Church, Pleasant Valley, Penna.”
I just love this book. It is old. The pages are super thick, super yellow and the edges rigid as if hand cut. It is hand tied and the needlework is visible at each turn. The cover is green cloth, you know that really thin linen-like stuff they used to cover books with. This book just makes you want to touch it, to hold it, and sometimes I just do. One would think with the age of the book, nearly 85 years, that the book would be brittle, pages chipping, maybe even a little fragile, but it’s not. This book and its message were made to last. The books of new with their precisely cut, glued pages and glossy cardboard covers aren’t made to last and sometimes neither is their message.
And that is why I have written this book, to help you be that man for your home, your community, your neighborhood. Glenn Clark
In this wonderful book written specifically for men, the spiritual leaders of their homes, I’ve learned enduring lessons about the hind.
The red deer is Europe’s largest deer. Although the red deer is one of the Scottish Highlands most iconic sights, they originally hail from the Turkey-Persia area and are actually the only deer species to inhabit all of Africa. The male red deer is called the hart and the female red deer is called the hind.
The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. Habakkuk 3:19
So what makes the hind creature so spectacular? The hart is also a magnificent creature, but there’s something special about the gal – and it’s her feet. The hind is known to be the most surefooted animal. Why is that? Because of the way her feet work together. When climbing craggy, rugged mountainous areas, the hind’s back feet land exactly where her front feet have just left. As she moves through, her front feet test the dangerous terrain and when she finds safe footing, her back feet then land right in that spot. Her front feet and her back feet line up in perfect correlation in order for her to traverse the terrain and reach the mountaintop safely. It’s precision tracking.
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. Luke 10:27
In order to reach the heights of life, we too must have precision tracking. Our feet must perfectly correlate. Our hearts and our minds must line up. There’s a reason it is called the Greatest Commandment. When our hearts and our minds are in perfect alignment, nothing is impossible.
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Mark 11:22-23
Our hearts and our minds must completely align with Him in order to scale the mountains of this world. All four feet (heart, soul, strength, mind) must be coordinated to safely climb the mountain. In the mountainous regions where the hinds travel, those back feet not landing perfectly in the front feet footsteps, even by a fraction of an inch, can be deadly. One misstep by our back feet can cause the mountain to crumble starting an avalanche of boulders and we find ourselves laying at the bottom with rocks piled on. But, each step taken toward the top of the mountain, feet-in-feet, opens a more spectacular view than the last step. Ascending the mountain Jesus’s way – without doubt in our heart and believing with our minds — opens up the most panoramic vistas ever imagined! True vision can only be found when we convert our feet to hind’s feet. It is a life long process. Sometimes we do misstep. Sometimes we are off by a fraction of an inch and we suffer devastating consequences. But as we work at having hind’s feet, aligning our back feet to our front feet, our hearts with our minds, the Lord will encourage us along the way and we will safely reach new heights which open to glimpses of Heaven. Praise the Lord of the Mountain!