The Uphill Downhill

I spent most of my youth in east-central North Dakota. I didn’t mind the brutal winters, and that may be one of the reasons that Gunnison’s comparatively mild winters don’t bother me. But, the hot humid summers, the incessant wind, the prehistoric mosquitoes, the lack of any plant life that could not be turned into a loaf of bread, and the table-top flat landscape were not my cup of tea. The roads in that part of the state are so straight and flat that you could almost point the car the right direction and just let ‘er go – except that the wind would blow you off the road – did I mention the wind?

Anyway, the roads were laid out in perfect square-mile grids. They ran north/south, and east/west, no other directions being considered necessary, and precisely every mile there was a crossroad. You think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. Furthermore, in the 100 miles of I-94 between Fargo and Jamestown, there are exactly two gentle curves. One to go around Tower City (there’s a tower there), and one to go around Valley City—can you guess what feature you find there? What’s my point? I think roads can be a lot like life.

In North Dakota, there was very little input needed to keep a car headed down the road. You didn’t have to steer much, and you didn’t have to adjust the throttle at all to go a given speed, except, of course, for the occasional 70 mph wind gust, but I digress. In Colorado, it is an entirely different story. We are accustomed to roads that wind back and forth with the terrain and climb and descend continually. Driving here keeps you awake to say the least! That sounds more like life as I know it.

There is something that I have noticed about our roads, particularly when I am, not in a car, but on my bicycle. When you are traveling toward a large uplifted piece of landscape, like toward a pass, or up a long drainage, what appears to be a descent might actually be a shallow hill that is just not quite as steep as the surrounding land. I call this “an uphill downhill.” You may have noticed that sometimes you think you are driving downhill, but the river beside the road is flowing the other direction - that’s an uphill downhill. I always know that if I am headed up a canyon, the uphills are steeper, and the “downhills” may not be downhills at all. The opposite is also true. If all the land around you is sloping away from you, the downhills are steep and fast, and the uphills are not nearly as steep as they look. I call those “downhill uphills.”

How does any of this relate to life? I’m so glad you asked! The worldview that you adopt is either making your life generally harder (uphill) or generally easier (downhill). The basic principles by which a person lives, determine the overall landscape of their lives. The big principles of the Bible, such as devotion to God, maintaining a living relationship with Him, staying full of His Word and His Spirit, being quick to forgive etc., make life generally easier to live. The principles of the world, like living for yourself, feeding on the lusts of the flesh, hardening your heart toward God, hating authority, keeping a proud heart, building a victim mentality etc., make life generally harder to live. Everyone faces challenges in life. But challenges are made harder or easier by the overall terrain that your daily choices are creating. While it is probably never a good idea to just coast through life, it doesn’t have to be a continual grind either.

So, I have a question for you. Do you often feel like you are straining hard in life even through what should be a downhill moment? Maybe your choices are making the overall landscape of your life go uphill. Maybe you are creating a series of “uphill downhills” in your life. They can be very frustrating! On the other hand, by making a few simple decisions, you can make all of life work generally better, essentially creating a series of “downhill uphills” or even “downhill downhills” - the most fun of all. Let’s look at a few ideas that might help.

I feel a little silly writing these things to a predominantly Christian audience, but more and more in our day and time Christian people seem to be losing touch with what it means to be a Christian. So, if the following instructions are already a part of your daily life, then I’m sure you know someone else that can use a refresher in them.

The Bible is full of principles that make life work better, I spent most of my youth in east-central North Dakota. I didn’t mind the brutal winters, and that may be one of the reasons that Gunnison’s comparatively mild winters don’t bother me. But, the hot humid summers, the incessant wind, the prehistoric mosquitoes, the lack of any plant life that could not be turned into a loaf of bread, and the table-top flat landscape were not my cup of tea. The roads in that part of the state are so straight and flat that you could almost point the car the right direction and just let ‘er go – except that the wind would blow you off the road – did I mention the wind?

Anyway, the roads were laid out in perfect square-mile grids. They ran north/south, and east/west, no other directions being considered necessary, and precisely every mile there was a crossroad. You think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. Furthermore, in the 100 miles of I-94 between Fargo and Jamestown, there are exactly two gentle curves. One to go around Tower City (there’s a tower there), and one to go around Valley City—can you guess what feature you find there? What’s my point? I think roads can be a lot like life.

In North Dakota, there was very little input needed to keep a car headed down the road. You didn’t have to steer much, and you didn’t have to adjust the throttle at all to go a given speed, except, of course, for the occasional 70 mph wind gust, but I digress. In Colorado, it is an entirely different story. We are accustomed to roads that wind back and forth with the terrain and climb and descend continually. Driving here keeps you awake to say the least! That sounds more like life as I know it.

There is something that I have noticed about our roads, particularly when I am, not in a car, but on my bicycle. When you are traveling toward a large uplifted piece of landscape, like toward a pass, or up a long drainage, what appears to be a descent might actually be a shallow hill that is just not quite as steep as the surrounding land. I call this “an uphill downhill.” You may have noticed that sometimes you think you are driving downhill, but the river beside the road is flowing the other direction - that’s an uphill downhill. I always know that if I am headed up a canyon, the uphills are steeper, and the “downhills” may not be downhills at all. The opposite is also true. If all the land around you is sloping away from you, the downhills are steep and fast, and the uphills are not nearly as steep as they look. I call those “downhill uphills.”

How does any of this relate to life? I’m so glad you asked! The worldview that you adopt is either making your life generally harder (uphill) or generally easier (downhill). The basic principles by which a person lives, determine the overall landscape of their lives. The big principles of the Bible, such as devotion to God, maintaining a living relationship with Him, staying full of His Word and His Spirit, being quick to forgive etc., make life generally easier to live. The principles of the world, like living for yourself, feeding on the lusts of the flesh, hardening your heart toward God, hating authority, keeping a proud heart, building a victim mentality etc., make life generally harder to live. Everyone faces challenges in life. But challenges are made harder or easier by the overall terrain that your daily choices are creating. While it is probably never a good idea to just coast through life, it doesn’t have to be a continual grind either.

So, I have a question for you. Do you often feel like you are straining hard in life even through what should be a downhill moment? Maybe your choices are making the overall landscape of your life go uphill. Maybe you are creating a series of “uphill downhills” in your life. They can be very frustrating! On the other hand, by making a few simple decisions, you can make all of life work generally better, essentially creating a series of “downhill uphills” or even “downhill downhills” - the most fun of all. Let’s look at a few ideas that might help.

I feel a little silly writing these things to a predominantly Christian audience, but more and more in our day and time Christian people seem to be losing touch with what it means to be a Christian. So, if the following instructions are already a part of your daily life, then I’m sure you know someone else that can use a refresher in them.

The Bible is full of principles that make life work better, so one thing you can do is simply decide to read and think about a small portion of the Bible every day. You could also decide to always treat other people the way you would like to be treated. You could decide that you will live every moment as if there is no such thing as a secret – live like everything you say and do will eventually be made public. You can decide to never think that any choice you make will only affect you. You could refuse to hold any grudges. All of these things make the overall landscape of life work better. Then, when you come to a hill, a challenge of some kind, and we all do, it will be a downhill uphill. Why? Because you won’t be fighting the downward pull of your other decisions as you work to overcome that one obstacle. Live well, and enjoy the ride.

We love you, John and Karen