Journey to the Blue Mountains

Recently one of the priests in Savannah la Mar had a friend visit Jamaica. For the occasion, we were given the opportunity to hike to the top of the famous Blue Mountains of Jamaica located near the capital of Kingston. Since I arrived here in Jamaica, we’ve been constantly busy with our new lives here, so a nice hike and being able to enjoy nature was a nice respite from what has been normal thus far.

After a four hour drive, we arrived at the hostel we would be staying at. The mountains were drastically cooler than Savannah la Mar, and, even better, there were no mosquitos. The hike takes about 4 hours to reach the peak and 3 more to come down, so we left for the peak at 5 a.m.

The first part of the mountain we hiked was called Jacobs Ladder named after the story from the Book of Genesis where Jacob, while he was sleeping, had a vision of a ladder descending from the clouds and the angels used to go to Heaven.

As we climbed, I thought about the Israelites who would go up to the mountains to pray in silence with God. We were doing much of the same, zig-zagging up Jacob’s Ladder to the top of the mountain. The cloud we walked into near the top made it feel like we were really almost in Heaven.

We finally reached the top and the clouds kept us from being distracted by seeing anything past the mountain. The clouds eventually did open up just enough to see all the way to Kingston and all that God created.

Building at the top of the mountain

After reflecting on the hike, I realized the mountain is like our faith journey. It’s big, formidable, even scary. We started from somewhere we knew and was familiar to us, but ended up in an entirely foreign place in the clouds, far beyond the chaos of our everyday lives.

That is what Jamaica has been like so far—a great, big mountain with many unknowns and unforeseen dangers. If I follow the path up the ladder to the mountain, I’ll reach whatever is God’s ultimate plan for me, and I know that He is on the path with me too.

We all have that mountain in our lives. The one that is holding us back from our full potential. We can only reach the top of the mountain if we trust in God’s plan and presence.

Although I am still stiff from the climb. It was a great adventure.

Enjoy the rest of Lent.

Map of Blue Mountain park