Kebetagan

1.       Every morning when I wake up, it is there: green shoulders rising powerfully from the narrow valley’s below. It can look sometimes formidable, sometimes peaceful. It’s the tallest mountain on the Island of Palawan: Kebetangan. Soaring up from from sea level, it towers above the village of Kemantian. I see it every morning, its different moods reflecting the probably course of the weather that day. Sometimes the whole mountain is visible – a promise of clear skies and dry trails. Sometimes mists swirl around its crest – gusty breezes and possible rain; other days the mountain is nearly obscured by dark clouds – rain and slippery trails and days of my laundry not drying on the line under the eaves of the house. Looking at the mountain, one can predict the course of the day.

I face another mountain each morning I awake and it too can set the course of the day. It is my time with God. When I choose to climb with Him, they sky opens up: clear and blue with a promise of fair weather. When I do not, mists and clouds swirl around obscuring the view and brining confusion and doubt.

Sometimes, looking toward the summit, it seems like an impossible task to reach the top. I don’t know the language, I can’t understand, I am too megla’aw (shy). But then I remember that Someone has promised to go with me and nothing is to steep or difficult for Him.