I have been thinking about the Christian life, and my own life, thinking about the essential themes, experiences and needs, and I have landed on these two words to describe it: Epic and Intimate. Somehow these resonate deeply as the core of life with God.

As I thought about this, I remembered something that happened more than ten years ago, when my best friend Brent was killed in a climbing accident. I went to the mountains to seek solace, and solitude, beauty, and...