Saturday 15 February 2014

Abseiling with God.

In the long, long ago I used to abseil.  I started on the little 30 feet cliffs out Engadine way & ended up jumping 80' waterfalls & 1 000 feet cliffs.  I loved abseiling & spent many, many weekends in the National park dangling on the end of a rope.  Or not.

The thing with abseiling is it's not hard once you have dropped onto the rope.  The problem is trusting that the rope will hold you when you put your whole weight on it.  It's not the height that worries people unless you are going down face first & as that's not for beginners that wasn't anyone's concern.  You can't see down without cricking your neck in bizarre ways.  You can only see what's directly in front of you.    However, when you stand on the lip of the cliff ready to head down it backwards there comes a moment of realisation that you have to lean backwards over empty space ~ & let go.  For a second of infinity you drop into nothingness, then the rope bites forming a triangular tension & this is what you use to propel yourself down the cliff.  No~one likes the dropping bit.

I still remember the first time I did it & the queasy feeling in my tummy. Visions of crashing through the tree canopy & bouncing of the granite boulders danced through my head.  Obviously I got down safely.

Sometimes it's like that with God.  I was chatting aimlessly with a fellow graduate after Friday's church telling her how much I loved Fiji, which I visited several times as a child,  knowing she & her family minister there, when she offered me an overseas speaking/teaching engagement.  What?!  Not this year, but she is lining me up for next, for a week or so's work.  I know this feeling all too well.  

On the other hand, why would I object to a speaking engagement in Fiji?  Beautiful people.  Beautiful climate.


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