To the Mountains: A Letter from the Editor
by Kimberly Phinney
MASTHEAD
Sarah Steele, senior editor
Ashley Whittemore, editor
Kimberly Kralovic, editor
Heather Lobe Johnson, editor
Kimberly Phinney, editor-in-chief
A Letter from the Editor-in-Chief
Dear Reader,
The mountain is one of the oldest symbols of difficulties and conquest in classical literature. Mountains are seen as elevated places where humans approach the divine or the sublime. They act as thresholds—liminal spaces between earth and heaven. In The Odyssey, Mount Olympus is home to the gods, representing the seat of divine authority and wisdom in Greek mythology. In Dante’s Divine Comedy, the Mountain of Purgatory is the soul’s ascent toward God, each step acting as a step away from sin toward sanctification.
In the Bible, mountains hold even more depth—not only as something to overcome but as a symbol of convening with God. Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Jesus went up to the mountain to pray and be with his Father. He delivered his most essential teachings on Kingdom ethics in the Sermon on the Mount. At Mount Tabor (likely), Christ revealed himself in all his divine glory to Peter, James, and John in his Transfiguration.
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Indeed, the mountaintop experience is a holy one. It’s where we celebrate the best life has to offer. It’s where we find hope and glory—and where we see God.
But the journey to the mountaintop is arduous and often harrowing. We sometimes journey through endless valleys and dark woods before we find our opening and begin our ascent. We grow unsteady on the outcroppings we thought were safe. We fear the altitudes and miscalculate the slack on our rope, as we long for hinds’ feet on high places. We look below, from where we came, and feel exhaustion. We look above, to where we must go, and feel a crushing overwhelm. “Oh, Lord!” we cry out, “How will I make this climb?”
The words of Psalm 121 are a salve in times like these:
Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
We know the Lord keeps watch, and he will not allow our feet to slip. He has promised that we are not alone. We never were, nor will we ever be, for the “Lord will watch over our coming and going, both now and forevermore.”
So, we push on with tremendous faith, one advancement at a time, until we arrive at our lofty destination. Finally, with a firm footing on solid ground, we take in vistas of unmatched glory—where eagles soar and the sun finds sleep. And as we find rest amid the shaded pines, we breathe in sweet relief, “Yes, Lord, I see you now… You were with me the entire time.”
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This journey to and from the mountaintops of life—be it literal, spiritual, or metaphorical—is the vision for our literary journal’s 2026 Fall Collection: To the Mountains.
We pride ourselves on being a community journal that provides soul-care and creative excellence to our writers and artists, so you will find faithful creatives who are quite established with many publications and awards alongside emerging creatives who are just beginning their journey. We celebrate and love them all as God’s image bearers!
So, please read deeply, comment widely, and connect richly, as we celebrate this timely offering of beauty to a world in need.
For someone so full of words, I cannot begin to articulate what you all mean to me and TWBTO team. I know it’s been said before, but I will keep saying it: The Way Back to Ourselves saved me in my darkest hour, and I hope, in some small way, it is saving you a little, too, as we journey together toward wholeness and holiness in a world that has often forgotten how.
You belong here,
Kimberly Phinney
EXALTED GROUND*
by Kimberly Phinney
I walk these mountains—
these bodies,
these large breathing blue souls—
as a small mark
on their weathered skin.
Breathing, too, I learn
this is Holy Land they have
so generously shared
with me—
that this is the Maker’s
first goodness
I did not deserve—
rarified air.
And still, the land
offers herself up
like a mother.
This ancient trail
I walk deep into,
between juts and drop-offs,
is a small vein
or artery that pulses
from one major organ
to the next:
the freshwater lake I look into,
a trickling stream in the glen,
or a timid doe and her kin.
Yet it holds my steps
and my life
like they matter.
And these trees,
the longleaf pines
and species
I do not know how to name
like Adam did,
are all separate but one,
as they sway in infinite song—
a Mass of life
all moving,
all talking,
all beating
as one.
All writing psalms
with their leafy tongues
in summer,
in autumn,
in winter,
in spring—
whooshing
like gorgeous vocal cords
making church for God
like David did
in the wilderness.
And here I am—
somehow—
as a parishioner,
a beggar,
a sinner,
a saint,
whispering
my Hallelujahs
and Amens
along with them.
I don’t know
which one I am
to this humming world—
or to God sometimes.
But sinner or saint,
orphan or child,
I will bend my knees
like a good witness
and gasp
* “Exalted Ground” was first published in Exalted Ground: Poems of Praise and Lament for the Living. It was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in Poetry in 2024.
Join us! Won’t you come along on this journey to the mountains? May this adventure hearten your soul, in the highs and lows of life.
Godspeed to you, good pilgrim!
TIP: Reading the journal on your computer or tablet is the best experience due to the formatting issues you might experience on your phone.
KIMBERLY PHINNEY
Kimberly Phinney is a writer, professor, counselor, publisher, and editor. She’s been published in Christianity Today, Ekstasis, Fathom, Solum Literary Press, The Dewdrop, Humana Obscura, Calla Press, and more. She is the founder of www.TheWayBack2Ourselves.com. Her poetry is award-winning. “Exalted Ground” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2024. Her poem “An Ode to Hard, Dark Nights” won the Audience Choice Award in the Bright Wings Poetry Contest with Ekstasis and Makers and Mystics in 2024. Her small collection of poetry from Of Wings and Dirt won runner-up in Fathom Magazine’s Poetry Contest in 2023.
A doctoral candidate in Community Care and Counseling, Kimberly holds an M.Ed. in English and studied at Goddard’s Creative Writing MFA program. She was featured on Good Morning America for a national award and for teaching through critical illness. Her poetry collection, Of Wings and Dirt, was a bestseller on the Amazon Charts throughout 2024. Her second book of poetry, Exalted Ground: Poems of Praise and Lament for the Living, debuted as a bestseller and #1 in Christian Poetry Charts in April of 2025.
She is writing a book on art, faith, and belonging, which will be published in 2027, as well as her third collection of poetry.
Find her and The Way Back to Ourselves community on Instagram @thewayback2ourselves and on Substack: TheWayBack2Ourselves.substack.com.