Getting High
“Unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
**Warning - feeling cheeky today!** Today is 4/20 - the unofficial holiday and celebration of smoking pot. And while many are lighting up, we Christians seek a different kind of high. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati famously coined the phrase, “Verso l’alto,” translated, “To the heights” - and it captures the heart of a better high.
It’s not that Christians don’t want to get high; it's that we embrace the climb to the heights. Just as Christ climbed to the top of Calvary, we climb towards Him. We don’t light up for ourselves - we get high for a reason. We get high, climb high, because we’re pressing towards the One we love. We recognize that getting high isn’t about a passing feeling - it’s about elevating your life.
Christians need to get high - but not from weed.
Today’s Gospel reminds us that “unless [we are] born from above, [we] cannot see the Kingdom of God.” We need space to see the world the way that God does. We need a Heavenly perspective - His Heavenly perspective. And we’ve got to get high to get it. But our high doesn’t grow from the earth, it comes from above.
Despite difficult circumstances, disappointments, fear, and heartbreak - we seek to go higher and higher, deeper and deeper into the heart of God. We embrace the climb to the heights because we’re climbing towards the One who loves us and makes us new. We climb because we don’t just “get high” - we elevate ourselves, our lives, and our hearts. We don’t want a high that passes; we seek a height and a depth to our love for God that brings us closer and closer to Him with every step.
Father,
Thank You for inviting us to come higher - to take on Your perspective, to seek for You, and to yearn for you.
God, teach us how to climb with conviction. Lead us on the mountain - show us the trails we should take and the ones we should ignore. Bring us closer and closer to Heaven with every step we take.
God, we love You. Help us climb to the heights. Amen.