12th August 2026

After a slow journey north along the M6, car warning light on (eek!), we turned off at Penrith for the Lake District. The hills and mountains were ahead of us, around us – and our spirits lifted. I had somehow forgotten quite how beautiful it is in this part of the world. It was also all so green compared with a parched Bristol!

It feels a real privilege to gaze out of the window at what my guidebook tells me is England’s 4th highest mountain, Skiddaw. I’ve not quite burst into song, but somewhat out of season, an Advent hymn comes to mind: “Hills of the north rejoice, rivers and mountain-spring”.

In the Bible, mountains are places of transformative encounters with God, where His presence is experienced in particularly powerful ways. We talk of “mountaintop experiences”. Moses receives the Ten Commandments on a mountain – and then there’s the Transfiguration. The prophet Elijah, in fear for his life, has a different sort of mountain based experience. God comes to him not in wind, earthquake or fire, but in a still small voice.

Our experiences of God, close to us, can come in many places and forms. Today I am certainly finding it easy to give thanks to God for His beautiful creation.

Hopefully you’ll forgive me for returning to some favourite words from another hymn – and pray that this might be true for us all:

I lift my eyes
to the quiet hills
to a calm that is mine to share;
secure and still
in the Father’s will
and kept by the Father’s care.

Ruth Allen