Tracks on the mountain

Between the skiers speeding down mountainsides, figure skaters spinning around ice rinks, and bobsledders sliding along icy tracks, the 2014 Winter Olympians in Sochi, Russia, inspired the world for three weeks with athleticism, determination, and grace. Watching the Winter Olympics on TV certainly whetted my appetite for snow sports, so I was delighted when I had the opportunity to spend a day skiing, especially on the slopes of a nearby mountain that had just received a few feet of fresh snow.

Though I hadn’t skied in a couple of years, I felt confident I’d quickly remember how. But during my first run down the mountain, I discovered the abundance of fresh snow created unfamiliar skiing conditions. As the day progressed, I couldn’t find a rhythm to my skiing. I felt constantly off-balance and unstable.

Toward the end of the day, frustrated with feeling out of control, I paused partway down the mountain to pray. One of the words that kept coming to mind was dominion. I recognized it as part of one of God’s declarations in the first creation story: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion … over all the earth” (Genesis 1:26).

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