Optimist Roundtable 10/7

By Martha Sykes

John Muir has written, “Nature’s literature is written in mountain ranges along the sky, rising to heaven in triumphant songs in long ridge and dome and clustering peak”. In this beautiful valley where we live, the mountains are such a part of our story. As for me, I never tire of looking at the mountains. This week we will be able to celebrate the beauty around us at our Flaming Foliage Festival. After missing it last year, it will be great to see our little town come alive once again!!

In the Scriptures, we can read about how much the mountains played such an important role in the story of creation and in the life of many people in Bible times. Jesus’s life certainly centered around the hills and mountains as He went to the mountains to pray many times, and preached the Sermon on the Mount at what is believed to have been a hill in northern Israel in the Korazim Plateau and it was Golgotha, also called Calvary on the hill where He was crucified.

In the Bible, the mountains and the hills have been considered to be “ close to God” and are very significant to many religious cultures. Mountains and hills are mentioned more than 500 times in the Bible. One of my favorite verses is found in Psalm 121 where it tells us, “ I lift up my eyes to the mountains- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth”.

Mountains can symbolize many different things to people but no matter what, their majesty and how God created them and the seasons for us to enjoy is something to pause and be grateful for every day.This upcoming weekend we will be surrounded by beauty in many ways. Hopefully we will be surrounded by family, friends and the beauty of every queen contestant as they come here to represent their individual schools. Let us welcome the opportunity to be the best little town in Pennsylvania as we look to the mountains and greet our visitors with a smile and appreciate our surroundings.