Mt Egmont, reaching a height of 8,260 ft with its base at sea level, is often claimed to be one of the most symmetrical volcanoes in the world. It is usually covered with snow, but it is summer at present in the Southern Hemisphere and I took this photo just yesterday. The mountain is frequently cloaked in cloud but the winds above obligingly unwrapped its form though left in place a hazy veil of UV light. It erupted last about 350 years ago and is considered dormant rather than extinct.

The first time I was welcomed on to a marae (Maori meeting house) and permitted to speak, I was required to introduce myself by naming both the river and the mountain with which I identify. As a South Islander with a special fondness for the Southern Alps, I nominated Mt Cook as my mountain, and having been born in Christchurch, the pretty meandering Avon River as my river. That one identifies with a territory, not just a name, is interesting to me. It locates one’s origins geographically. Mt Egmont appeals to me aesthetically, but it is not my mountain in the same way that I feel towards the Southern Alps.

As a New Zealander, I belong to this country. As a human being, I belong to this world. In terms of time, I belong to this present Age. However, my real home is not of this world, nor of this Age. I have dual citizenship, that of this world where I live at the moment, and that of elsewhere in another, the one where I truly belong. Submitting to the lordship of Christ provides a dimension that radically changes perspective, that gives assurance that this earthly life is not all there is. There is far more to creation than that of which our senses appraise us. This kind of knowledge comes as a gift. It is not a consequence of being in any way deserving. And the Giver is indeed gracious beyond measure. He has said:

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7)