I’m afraid I don’t know much about the Bronte sisters. You spur me on, thank you.

Philip

Been thinking about you lately. I read your last book over a decade ago but it stays with me. I had the pleasure of climbing the St. Mary’s glacier as well as climbing the mountain across from Mount of the Holy Cross – my favorite name of any mountain ever! – some years ago.

I’ve started writing poetry and just finished a stage play about the life and death of my great grandfather. I’m a pyschotherapist now but through many big and small ways God is clearing away (name of my most recent poem) my life to make room for something. What that might be I’m not sure but I am bent over backwards in anticipation of this new life he is creating.

If you get an opportunity you should travel to St. Meinerad’s Archabbey in Indiana. Most magnificent place. Went on a weekend silent men’s retreat last weekend. Radical experience.

Nice post. I appreciate your thoughts. Good to reconnect with you even if it’s just electronically.

Reb

Philip

Congratulations to you and your wife on so many successful climbs. I’m a fan of Colorado, the Rockies and your work. My husband, two young children and I were in Colorado–Denver and Colorado Springs–in mid-September. On Sept. 18 we made our way to the summit of Pikes Peak. I thought we were brave just driving up! At the summit we struggled with altitude sickness; we’re from Chicago, so 14,110 feet wreaked a little havoc on our bodies. I’ve never fainted, but I felt very close to it that afternoon. I was so moved by the experience of rarefied air that I likened it to my faith walk as a motherless daughter. It’s harder to breathe up on the mountaintop, but so much easier to hear God. As I’ve grieved, and continue to grieve, my mom who died 23 years ago, sometimes it’s hard to breathe. But the grief gives me a sharper view of God.

Funny how life is.

Thank you for capturing another side of the mountains. One I didn’t see, but I find fascinating. I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to hiking up to great heights, so I appreciate your perspective. And I applaud your bravery. It takes oodles of faith to climb even one mountain.

Your writing is the best I’ve seen. I’m a journalist, too, and if my work is someday a tenth as good as yours, I’ll count myself successful.

I thank God for you! Blessings to you and your wife.

Kristina Cowan
Naperville, Ill.

I saw your profile on LinkedIn, Kristina, and you’re well on the way. Like you, I traded the corporate world for freelancing, and have never looked back. Climbing mountains is like writing: the more you do it, the less rarefied that air seems.
Philip

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