Dreaming at the Threshold of Hope

The mountains are not just a medium for personal transformation; but they are also the canvas upon which we paint our lives.

I penned this phrase in my shabby old notebook shortly after arriving to Mountain Lake Academy. To me it is as true for myself as it is for the youth here. None-the-least for the youth in our Mountain View Residence. They come to us with the goal of overcoming emotional and behavioral barriers that have kept them from success at home.

I recently accompanied one such student on a trip to the Nob of Giant Mountain in the High Peaks Wilderness of the Adirondacks. On the way into the mountains, he was relative quiet, however we began to share while walking the uphill path that led to the rock band that gave us a perched overlook of the range.

I have a lot of life experiences that can lead to very entertaining trail chatter. However, today I was there to listen. To be an unassuming presence in the lives of those we serve is the core of caring. One of my favorite authors once wrote, “The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing, and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is the friend who cares.”

Humans are small compared to mountains. Mountains are small specks of rock in the scope of the world. When we are in the mountains, we are faced with our own limitations but compelled to push through the barriers that hold us back from success. While sitting atop our rocky outcrop, I turned to this young man and asked a simple question: “What are your dreams?” “I want to be a Medic,” he eagerly replied. We went on to discuss wilderness medicine, mountain climbing, helicopters, and caring for the wounded. Then I asked, “What else?” This time, more tentatively, he replied, “I can have more than one?”

Teenagers impress me. They are introspective creatures with a flair for the tenacious creativity This creativity compels them to grow. As these young ones approach the independence of adulthood, they begin to take ownership of their own dreams, they begin to question everything, and at times they can be defiant of anyone who tries to direct their process of discovery. Mentorship, at its best, leads a person inward. It teaches them to discover new paths within their own worldview. It inspires a person to challenge their core beliefs and form new paradigms. A mentor helps eliminate the idea of “impossible” so that everything can become possible.

This student returned to us after a time of contemplation to share this insight, “I never knew I could have more than one dream. I think one of my dreams is to be a father. I want to be a better father than my father was to me.” I was agape with joy for his discovery. We celebrated the birth of a new paradigm as we descended the stony path that led to his epiphany.

Our outdoor recreation programs are designed to give students the ability to RE-CREATE. Students re-create old beliefs, re-create broken relationships, re-create destructive habits, re-create poorly informed choices, re-create themselves. As leaders, as mentors, and as people who care it is our privilege to lend perspective to the process of re-creation. We are not better than those we serve; we are simply further along.

Mountain Lake Academy is a place where students can stand on the rocky precipice of a mountain, they can stand at the threshold of hope, and they can dare to re-create what it means to dream.

As we enter this holiday season, I would encourage you to look at your own dreams, reflect on 2020. What have you accomplished? Where are the areas where you are living in the “not yet?” What is something you hope for in the upcoming days, months, years? Life is an adventure, and the best adventures teach us to ask questions, along the path, that we otherwise would not have thought to ask.