Dericka Canada Cunningham, GBW Founder
October 2, 2023
This Week's Anchor
“He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’”
Matthew 17:20 (NIV)
This week my family and I celebrate my late nana’s heavenly birthday. As I reflect on her life, I recall a particularly fond memory of her. I grew up with my beloved nana as the secretary of our small-town church. I would often accompany her on Saturdays to the church office to prep church materials for Sunday services. Although my nana’s primary role was managing the secretarial needs of our church, like most folks in the church, she was involved in many aspects, including the church choir. My nana would probably never consider herself much of a singer; however, there was one song that my father (her son), the minister of music and choir director, chose her to lead. Throughout my life, I’ve remembered this song in moments. The song expresses,
“Oh Lord, I'm strivin', tryin' to make it through this barren land, but as I go from day to day, I can hear my Savior say, "trust me child, come on and hold my hand." I'm comin' up on the rough side of the mountain, I must hold to God, His powerful hand. I'm comin' up on the rough side of the mountain, I'm doin' my best to make it in.”
As a young girl, this song didn’t mean much to me. I didn’t understand what mountain folks were referring to or what exactly was “rough” about it. But oh, doesn’t life have a way of teaching important lessons? Those old songs and hymns that I heard as a child became exponentially meaningful as an adult.
Like this song, our anchor scripture uses mountains as a purposeful metaphor. This scripture and song remind us that:
1) We will face mountains—As followers of Christ we are not exempt from the challenges and up-hill battles of life
2) We are never alone in approaching our mountains—Although we might be surprised when an unexpected mountain emerges on our life path, God is not. He’s fully aware and alongside us as we navigate our mountains.
3) With faith, we can move mountains—With the power of the Holy Trinity, “nothing is impossible.”
4) Having faith doesn’t require perfection—My favorite part of my nana’s song is the verse that says, “I’m doing my best”. God doesn’t want or need you perfect, He wants your progress. Even “faith as small as a mustard seed” can move mountains.
Like the sentiments of our anchor scripture and this song, we often associate the image of mountains with life’s struggles and challenging tasks. However, I want to offer an additional perspective on mountains inspired by my favorite meditation app—you guessed it, Calm. One day a few years ago, as I was getting ready for my workday in my office, I decided to take a moment to pause, meditate, and pray. I opened my Calm app and was intrigued by the daily guided meditation that was titled “Mountains”. As I reflected on the many mountains I had in my life at that moment, I decided to take a listen.
The meditation begins with having the listener picture the image of a mountain. It leads the listener to visualize the details of the mountain—noticing how “vast, still and unmoving” it is. It then asks the listener to imagine bringing the mountain into their body (“the head as the peak, the shoulders, arms, and torso as the slopes, and the lower body as the base with deep roots into the earth”). The listener is invited to imagine embodying the qualities of the mountain, holding a sense of strength and stability within themself. The guide ends the meditation by sharing how she uses this imagery as a source of stillness and resilience—“Storms come and go, seasons change, birds depart in autumn and return in spring, but the mountain just soars up from the earth, unphased.” (Tamara Levitt, Calm App, “Mountains” Daily Calm). By the end of the meditation, I shifted from viewing the image of mountains as a threat to internalizing it as an inspiration. Of course, when I do these meditations, they connect with deeper spiritual significance for me. So, as I continued to be inspired by the image of mountains, I couldn’t help but think about how they represent the solid Rock and foundation we have in the Holy Trinity. The lyrics “on Christ the solid Rock I stand…” came to mind, and at this point, I was ready to take a victory lap through my office building! All church humor aside, I left this meditation space feeling incredibly confident and took this image and inspiration of mountains with me. In fact, in moments when I’m preparing for an important presentation or interview, I revisit this guided meditation and pair it with the song of my dear nana.
Life will hand us many obstacles, and as challenging as it can be to approach them, we can look at these seemingly unmovable mountains and be reminded of our unmovable God. He not only has the power to move mountains, in fact, He represents the solid Rock that makes mountains what they are. We can be inspired by the strength of our mountains—letting them generate an unshakable faith within us and allowing them to help us be rooted in the solid foundation of the Holy Trinity. As we enter this week and face whatever challenges life might bring, let us all remember that we have the most Divine, all-powerful, unchanging mountain within us that will empower us to tackle whatever mountains we face ahead of us.
Reflection
What resonates for you about this scripture and/or this devotion?
What mountains are you currently navigating in your life? What do you need from the Holy Trinity to help you connect with a sense of strong foundation?
What intention(s) do you want to set to connect and/or reconnect with being grounded this week?
Related Scriptures to Ground You Through this Week
2 Samuel 22:47
Psalm 40:1-4
Isaiah 40:1-5
Isaiah 42:16
Matthew 7:24-25
Mark 11:22-25
Philippians 4:13
My Through-the-Week Reflection Guide
A Song of Inspiration
Quote of Love & Liberation
“Challenges make you discover things about
yourself that you never really knew.”
Cicely Tyson
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