I went to a Christian camp two times a year every single year from sixth grade until I graduated high school. I lived for it. My friends and I began preparing for our time there weeks in advance. It wasn’t just the fact that we got away from our daily lives, or the fact that we played some great games, or even the fact that Rich Baker lived there (we all knew I'd bring him up eventually, and we all know this played a role in it) that kept us coming back. No, it was the high we got that lasted for weeks after we got home.
In high school I lived for the mountaintop high that so many others have come to know. I spent years trying to keep this high, to make it last a little bit longer each time I left the mountains. Finally, I realized what it was. It was Jesus. Right now you’re probably like, “Obviously, Amanda. I could have told you that.” But really, I knew that I was on fire for Jesus when I was on the mountain, and that when I left the flame slowly extinguished. The flame died no matter what. It was reduced to embers, and no matter what I tried, the flame disappeared. Finally, my mentor said something that stuck with me.
She said, “You get the Jesus High because you talk about Jesus. You go to breakfast and talk about Him, and then chapel where you worship and learn, then you go to lunch and talk about the sermon, then have free time where you end up doing one-on-ones and pray together, then chapel, and then dinner where you talk about chapel, and finally end the night with a devotional done with our cabin. It’s a lot of Jesus talk, how could you not be all consumed by Him?” It clicked. If I want the mountain top high that is so sought after, we need to be talking about Jesus, and what he has done in our lives.
How did I apply this in the real world, where not everyone wants to constantly hear about Jesus? Honestly, I’m still working on it.Brennan Manning, author of “The Ragamuffin Gospel,” wrote:
“We settle in and settle down to lives of comfortable piety. We grow complacent and lead practical lives. Our feeble attempts at prayer are filled with stilted phrases addressed to an impassive deity. Even times of worship become trivialized.”
This complacency causes us to forget what God has done for us. We forget so easily, and stop talking about the grace we have received when we should be shouting it from the rooftops, no matter where we are. I live in this little Christian bubble. I go to a small Christian school, and work for a Christian family, and really only leave campus for work and church. I’m still learning how to apply this. But, because I live in this Christian bubble, I have the space to talk about God. I have the freedom to scream from wherever I am that Jesus is my savior and that He is working in my life without offending anyone. This is just practice for when I leave the bubble, for when I am thrown into thermal world, where not everyone believes what you do.
For example, when I go home, and do not have the safety net of the Christian bubble. Well, I am still working on it. It’s hard to talk about your faith when not everyone shares the same views, and they might be offended. I have started to do this thing where I just start telling whoever I think won't be turned off by my faith what I am learning, or even just saying that I am praying for them.
Last night, I sat in church as the pastor read Psalm after Psalm telling the reader “Selah”. Selah means to just take a second to remember. Obviously, since yesterday I haven't been home to “Selah,” to remember what God has done, but I sat last night in my bed and remembered. I quietly was reminded that God is good, and that He provides for me. To keep the “Jesus High” when you can’t talk about Him, I say, “Selah.” Simply taking a moment to remember what God has done and that He is present will keep the flame growing inside you, it will give you the space you need to fully thank God for his provisions and for what He has done in your life. So, I say to you, “Selah.”
