In the Olympic Mountains in...
Illustration
In the Olympic Mountains in Washington State there is a mountain called Mount Zion. It is not a high peak as mountains go. It sits on the western edge of the range and, like the rest of those mountains, is often covered in clouds. There is a trail to the top of this mountain, an easy walk for almost anyone. If the day is clear, Mount Zion becomes the great glory of God's creation. From the top of this peak one can see the entire sweep of Puget Sound, the rest of the Olympics, the Cascade Range to the east, and many of the mountains to the north, even into British Columbia. This small, unassuming peak offers the whole view of God's creation and fills one with a sense of wonder and awe at the beauty of it all. So the prophet Isaiah saw the view from his Zion, the view of God's new creation which was coming for the earth. Isaiah knew that God would renew the face of the earth, and that from the often clouded peak of Israel's Zion would come a whole new view of the earth, a view seen through the eyes of God's redeeming love.
