6/12/11

The Lowest Valley

I am a fan of bluegrass music. That works well living as I do now in the Nashville, Tennessee, area. I was not always a fan. It took a movie directed by two Jewish gentlemen from Minnesota to turn me into one, but a crazy film titled O Brother, Where Art Thou? did the trick. If you were to ask me, “What’s on your IPod?” chances are the answer will either be Alison Krauss or Ralph Stanley.

Just before I moved from Boston to Nashville a friend gave me a Ralph Stanley album of gospel songs. One of the tunes is called “The Lowest Valley,” and the refrain says “When I’m in the lowest valley, I can climb the highest hill.”


Though not a classic with banjo, I like the song because it really talks about having a mind change. We all walk through low valleys, and the shadows in those valleys can get very deep.  But in those spots we can affirm that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness, and by faith we can see ourselves climbing the highest hill.

In my book, Power Thought #47 reads,

You may be challenged
and weak, but you can
still have radical faith.

Never think radical faith is only for the strong.
Faith is most radical when it seems most unlikely.


The lowest valley just may be the best place to look toward the highest hill.
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4 comments:

  1. Trisha MarchewkaJune 13, 2011 at 7:46 AM

    Thank you for putting these mind thoughts out here. When life hits hard and it just seems like please not one more thing. There is a small light of good news. Thank you again for the inspiration that these things give.
    Trish Marchewka
    Central MC, Chicago

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  2. AnonymousJune 13, 2011 at 11:51 AM

    Thanks for the inspiration.
    Cleveland
    Toronto Church

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  3. AnonymousJune 13, 2011 at 6:14 PM

    Thanks for bringing up the Bluegrass topic. I used to listen to it years ago, Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, Country Gentlemen, etc. But one thing I never realized is how much Bluegrass Gospel is out there. There was a program on Fordham University's WFUV that played Bluegrass Gospel and I was always moved at how deeply spiritual the lyrics were. Sometimes I would come home and tell my wife "honey, you need to hear this guy"!
    Thanks,
    John, Albany

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  4. Joy BodziochJune 14, 2011 at 1:51 PM

    Hi Tom,
    Thanks for your insight. Today I was thinking about Dt 8:16: "He gave you manna to eat in the desert ... to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you." It seems that, just as I think things in my life are perfect, I find myself back in the desert again. Despite God's "manna", I get discouraged. In my pride I can think I DESERVE those green mountains. But then I remember the valleys and deserts are there so "in the end it might go well" with me! Isn't God amazing?!
    Joy Bodzioch
    SF Bay Area

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