The View from the Top

The phone rang, the question was asked and I jumped at the opportunity. In preparation to take a group from a local school to the highest point in the Drakensburg, Rob wanted to walk the route first and he had asked me to join him.

 Mount-Aux-Sources is thought to be the highest point in SA at 3282m, but this is not true, in actual fact the highest point in both the Drakensberg and South Africa is Mafadi (3450m). Our route would take us up Corner Pass to spend the night in Upper Injasuthi Cave (Injasuthi Summit Cave).

I would just be the two of us, and I know that Rob walks fast, so I looked through my usual gear to find what I could leave behind in order to save some weight – one of the things I left behind was my tracksuit pants, something I had taken on every hike prior and never used, so I figured I would be the best option.

Not long after reaching the summit of the pass, I looked over into Lesotho and noticed the dark clouds building in the distance and with it some lightning – the move was on we needed to get to the cave ASAP. I know someone who has been struck by lightning twice, but in this area of the Berg, one strike could kill multiple people, so there was no time to dawdle. With a few kilometres still to go, the rain started followed closely by some hail (my ears informed me why Rob always wore the “funny” hat he had). With only a few minutes till we reached the cave lighting struck about 50m behind us and that few minutes become a lot less. That night I regretted not having those warm pants with me; no matter what I did I just couldn’t get warm, mostly because of getting wet.

The clear skies and warmish weather was welcomed, with the arrival of the next morning, I mean since we were going to be on top of South Africa, we wanted to be able to enjoy the view. The climb was a little more difficult than I had expected, but when I got to the top and turned around to see the amazing view, I was caught a little off-guard. “Amazing, I wouldn’t call this amazing. Nice, yes, but not amazing” I thought to myself. I can recall the views from the top of Amphitheatre, I can remember views from on top of Cleft Peak. I can even see images from Windy Gap on the way up Organ Pipes, but if I am honest, the view from Mafadi is not something that sticks in the forefront of my mind.

Amphitheatre and Cleft Peak are on the edge of the escarpment, Windy Gap is just below the summit, but Mafadi is set a few kilometres in from the edge, which means you don’t get to see the grandeur and splendour that you would when you are closer to the edge.

It seems the closer I live life to the edge, the better the views. If you look back through history the church was most on fire when it was under pressure, just go into parts of the world where Christians are persecuted and you will see people ablaze for Christ. When we get to the “top” of what we think is important, very often the views are not as good as we thought they would be.

Do what Christ has called you to do and you will find yourself living everyday with great excitement and enjoying the views along the way.