Bad Geography Behaviour

The Sound of Music:

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
Till you find your dream.

Mountains are good, inspirational, beautiful, a source of hope… Climbing mountains is success… it’s hard work but worth the effort… I’ve had high points in my life…

The American spiritual:

You gotta walk that lonesome valley
You gotta walk it by yourself
Nobody else can walk it for you
You gotta walk it by yourself.

Valley’s are bad, depressing, dark, lonely, better avoided if possible. Sometimes they’re hard to get out of. I’ve had some pretty low points in my life…

The Nursery Rhyme:

Oh, the grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men,
He marched them up to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again.

And when they were up they were up,
And when they were down they were down,
And when they were only half way up
They were neither up nor down.

I accept that life has hills and valleys, ups and downs… it’s rarely a level playing field… Today I like the idea of half-way-upness. – without the excitement and challenge of hills or the sadness and difficulties of valleys.

Michael Rosen:

I’m better walking down slopes than up them. This causes problems for getting home having been out.

Trouble with Muswell Hill where I live, there’s a hill. I suppose the clue’s in the name. Everywhere round here is either up or down. It’s very bad geography behaviour.

My life’s ups and downs are both interesting and infuriating… rarely staying still on half-way-upness… always going up or coming down… certainly it’s ‘bad geography behaviour’.

King David:

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens you are there; if I make my bed in the depths you are there.

The reassurance of my faith is that wherever I am, highest mountain or darkest valley, God is there.