Let's Start at the Very Begining

Hello readers of my very first blog post! You being here means that you are likely related to me in some way and that you are bored enough to see why in the world I have decided to start blogging. Well, regardless of what brought you here, thanks for showing up!

I’ve been thinking about blogging for a while, mostly because I need an outlet for the thoughts that are always rolling around my brain. The content of this site will likely be as disjointed and diverse as those thoughts are, but I hope you will find something that can amuse, inspire, or encourage you here.

You may be wondering about the name of the name of this blog. This name was one which floated around in my head every time I thought about starting a blog. It comes from one of my favorite pieces from 18^th century Scottish poet Robert Burns:

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the mountains, high-cover'd with snow,
Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.
My heart's in the Highlands

Now, if you know me at all (which I will assume you do, since you are here) you probably know that I am pretty proud of my heritage, and have a weakness for all things Scottish. But my love of this poem goes deeper than the romantic idea of roaming across heather-covered hills. Burns’ evident longing for his homeland makes me think of the Highlands that are my true homeland.

It is not a stretch to call heaven “the Highlands”. Isaiah prophesied that: “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” (Isaiah 2:2-3)

In studying ethics, we often will label an action as being on “ethical high ground” – meaning that action is tucked safely within ethical bounds, far from the precipice of the foggy gray zone. Sometimes, it can be hard to find that high ground through the fog, but I am convinced that the key to navigating tricky terrain is found in the above verse – “He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”

So, my goal for this blog is to keep my “Heart in the Highlands” – whatever I write about, I will write from the perspective that my citizenship is in heaven, and I eagerly await the return of my Savior from there. (Phil 3:20) Thanks for joining me on this journey!

Further up and further in!