Click above to listen to Sacred Mountain (from my 8th album Open Spaces) as you read. If you enjoy you can stream, download music, or find sheet music at the following links: Open Spaces CD, MP3 Album, Piano Book, Desert Thirsty for Rain PDF Sheet Music, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora.

Can you think of a recent experience you can connect with a childhood memory?

It was June 1974 when I first saw them. I was ten years old, and we were half way into our only cross country family vacation. North Carolina to Wyoming and back — by car. Our 1972 Buick Skylark was loaded to the brim. The trunk would barely close and the white carrier top held all our tent camping gear. I will always remember my first viewing of the Rocky Mountains. Driving west, watching them rise, and rise, and rise over the horizon left a mark. It was a sacred moment. There was a sense that only God could have created something so beautiful, so majestic. Being in the mountains always triggers a spiritual encounter for me.

These are things I reflected on as I was composing “Sacred Mountain,” inspired by 2 Peter 1:18. “We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.” What a scene it must have been when Jesus led Peter, James and John up a high mountain, and there was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, his clothes became as white as the light, and Moses and Elijah appeared, talking with Jesus. I believe God wants to reveal “sacred mountain” moments in our day-to-day life, but we have to have our hearts, ears, and minds open to “see” them.

What is a childhood experience you had that was “sacred” in your memories? Have you had a “sacred mountain” moment lately?