Elul 10, 5778

Rabbi Heidi Cohen

Take Me to the Mountains

There is a chasidic story of a child of a certain rabbi who used to wander in the woods. His father allowed him to wander, but over time the father became worried as the woods were dangerous. The father went to the child and said, “I noticed that you like to walk in the woods each day, why do you go there?” The child replied, “I go there to find God.” The father agreed that this was a good thing but said, “that’s wonderful that you are searching for God, but, my child, don’t you know that God is the same everywhere?” The child replied, “Yes, but I’m not.”

I recently visited the California Sierra mountains and found not only God, but I found me again. I am Heidi of the mountains for I grew up in the Colorado mountains. And while I love living in Southern California, there is always a part of me that longs for the mountains. For a couple of days, I escaped into the majesty and complexity of the Sierras. I was in awe of the peaks as they reached into the clouds and the vast colors as shadows and shapes danced on the path. The sounds of the birds above and the crunching of leaves and soil below my feet. The sweet smells of grass and flowers. Within moments the scene changed as a thunderstorm moved into the valley and I was soaked by the warm rain.

It was in this space that God and I had an opportunity to reconnect. Like the child in the story, I know that God is the same everywhere, but I am not. It is these moments of being in the mountains, out in nature, even just out for a run, where I reconnect with God. Where I allow myself to turn off the noise of the world and tune in to me and the music God creates.

Find your mountains, find your space with God, find your time with you. Pause, listen, see, and breathe.