The Woodsman

It stands tall; immovable, constant and all around unchanging; this mountain has seen the beginnings and it will see the end. Tended by gentle mist in morning and heralded by flaming clouds by evening. It is the mountain everyone will climb, few will summit and only one knows the way. It is said that all must come through the Woodsman to get to the top of the mountain.

The Woodsman is a man of great mystery, there is great debate by today’s scholars as to who has been around longer, the Woodsman or the mountain, no other man knows the beginning of either just as no man is able to predict either’s end. We aught, however, afford more thought about this Woodsman. The Woodsman is the only one who knows how each person can reach the top of the mountain. It was said that no two paths made by the Woodsman are the same, though some join together before the summit is reached. It is said he knows a man before he arrives to that quaint, lumber home at the foot of the hill. When one arrives, ready to begin the path, the Woodsman looks deep in the traveler’s eyes, and with a few glances up and down; has composed the path best suited to that individual’s needs.

Many have tried taking the path, those who were not ready or were not meant to climb the mountain. For these, the Woodsman derives a special path; a path that quickly leads over brambles and shifting stones with a view of the threatening crags before the summit is obtained. Some will last longer than others, but all these will tire in the end and lose sight of the peak.

Then there are those who were meant to climb. Some will be hesitant. Some will have already tried to climb by another way. Some will be young, some old and some who will be made to watch others climb before they begin themselves. Many have wondered what thoughts brew behind the kindly and level eyes of the Woodsman; what master of navigation and understanding composes such a varied and unique path for all who come?

Standing by the foot of the mountain, one can hear the conversations, joys and pains of those already climbing. The stories drifting down the hills range from the majestic views one’s path has shown to the laughter of some understanding joke the Woodsman planned for a weary heart.

Occasionally one will hear the disdain and groans of one who was not expecting where the path lead. Sometimes they find themselves so far from where they thought the path would be by that point, they call down with frustrations and cries of questioning, wondering how this could possibly be the way? The Woodsman however is swift in rushing up the mountain to ensure the climber of the path he has chosen for him.

There is one sad tone, however, that finds it’s way down the mountain, a tone that is spoken far more often than it aught. It is the tone of one who wandered off the path, one who was distracted by the many pleasures found along the way. These pleasures look enticing and draw climbers off the path, only to turn into dangerous animals and creatures meaning to harm the now lost and scared climber. It is this tone that burdens the Woodsman the most, for he warns all who climb of the many dangers and tells them of the story how he himself fought against these evils to ensure none could ever harm those that climb on the path he has made. His heart becomes heavy that they have chosen their own path and not the one he so carefully and lovingly detailed for them.

It is a long path up the mountain, and there are stories as to how the final ascent begins. They say the path is made special in this way so that no man can get to the top without the Woodsman. It is in these higher altitudes that the last of the climbers run out of energy and come to lay by some tree or rock with a view of the peak. Then the climber falls fast asleep, only to be caught up in the strong arms of the Woodsman and carried to the top where all the voices of the other climbers fade away and there is not but clear skies and climbers before, kneeling in continual awe of the view. Some say it is here the Woodsman has another home, made of gold and fine jewels where one day he will retire when the last of the climbers has made their way up the path to the top of the mountain.


Isaiah 2:3 And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths…