From the earliest days, mankind has looked to the heavens for answers to the mysteries of life. Ancient societies considered the heavens to be the home of the gods and natural phenomena such as the sun and the moon, rain, thunder, lightning, rainbows, and clouds. Polynesian explorers read the heavens to navigate wide swaths of ocean depending only on the stars and constellations to tell them where they were.  According to the Fuji Declaration, “The great spiritual traditions of the world have always been telling us that, at its root, human life is inextricably linked to its universal source.”

The highest mountaintops on earth became the ultimate height to which man could reach and be close to the gods, while still remaining within earthly bounds. And thus, the sacredness of mountaintops was woven into stories of the gods in every civilization. Zeus lived on Mount Olympus in Greece. Mount Fuji in Japan is sacred to the Shinto goddess Sengen-Sama. The Nepalese Goddess of the Sky lived on Mount Everest. Poli’ahu, the Snow Goddess, lived on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The mountaintops had become sacred because that is where the gods dwelled on earth.

What causes hikers today to give up everything they have and train for months and years to climb to the highest mountaintops, and get nothing but the satisfaction that they have achieved their goal? Kilimanjaro in Africa. The Alps in Europe. The Rockies in America. Wherever there are mountains, there are men to climb them. It is the Divine Spark speaking to the human soul to push on.

Each of us has our mountaintops to climb, those challenges in life that only we, as individuals, can overcome. No one can drag a hiker to the mountaintop. We must call upon our own Divine Spark and inner resolve to reach the elusive mountaintops in our lives. Step by step, we climb upward to beat the odds and conquer the unknown. The weakness we’ve been trying to overcome for decades. Unhealthy addictions. Distractions that erode our money and time. Illnesses that sap our strength until wellness finally emerges.

Ultimately, what we find at the mountaintop is that we did not climb alone. There were others along the way who helped. Those in front who set the example. Those behind who watched our steps carefully. Those who loved us and kept us in their prayers. And those who already had climbed their mountain and knew that it was possible.

The mission of the Fuji Declaration is to ignite the full potential of the human spirit in service to others. We can best do that when we have climbed the mountaintops in our own lives first. When we are seeing the clearest views, breathing the cleanest air and are in closest communication with our God, we have the most to offer to others and to the world. It is at the mountaintop that our Divine Spark will understand its true purpose and role in furthering a more peaceful and sustainable planet.