Cut the rope

Heaven ne’er helps the man who will not help himself. — Sophocles

We all need to think about how attached we are to our own ropes? Would we trust God and let go? — Priya Sher

As the night fell heavy in the heights of the mountains a climber got lost and could not see anything. All was black and there was zero visibility. The moon and the stars were covered by the clouds. He continued climbing disorientated, but only a few feet away from the top of the mountain, suddenly he slipped and fell into the air, falling at great speed. He could only see black spots as he went down, and the terrible sensation of being sucked by gravity.

He kept falling, and in the moments of great fear, it came to his mind all the good and bad episodes of his life. He was thinking now about how close death was getting, when all of a sudden he felt the rope tied to his waist pull him very hard. His body was hanging in the air.

Only the rope was holding him and in that moment of stillness he had no other choice but to scream: “Help me God.”

All of a sudden a deep voice coming from the sky answered, “What do you want me to do?” “Save me God.” And God replied “Do you really think I can save you?” “Of course I believe You can.”

“Then cut the rope tied to your waist.”

There was a moment of silence and the man decided to hold on to the rope with all his strength. The next morning the rescue team reported that a climber was found dead and frozen, his body hanging from a rope. His hands holding tight to it. Only one foot away from the ground.

Posted by Priya Sher on her blog.

– Faith Under Fire
– Love Wins

He needs your hand

llustration by Ken Crane

Master and disciple are walking through the deserts of Arabia. The Master uses each moment of the journey to teach his disciple about faith.

“Entrust your things to God,” he said. “Because He never abandons His children.”

When they camped down at night, the Master asked the disciple to tie the horses to a nearby rock.

The disciple went over to the rock, but then remembered what he had learned that afternoon. “The Master must be testing me. The truth is that I should entrust the horses to God.”

And he left the horses loose.

In the morning he discovered that the animals had run off. Indignant, he sought out the Master.

“You know nothing about God! Yesterday I learned that I should trust blindly in Providence, so I gave the horses to Him to guard, and the animals have disappeared!”

“God wanted to look after the horses,” answered the Master. “But at that moment he needed your hands to tie them up and you did not lend them to Him.”

Posted by Paulo Coelho on his blog.

There are many stories similar to this. One I can recall is that of a man clinging to the roof of his house surrounded by rising flood water. He prays to God for help. Various people turn up and he turns them away. He slips from the roof and drowns. He asks God why He did he not answer his prayers and come to his rescue. God replies by telling him did I not send people to your rescue, but did you not turn them away?

Like with Santiago in The Alchemist we have to learn how to listen to the Soul of the World, we have to learn how to read the signs God gives us.

We have free will. Our destiny is not determined by fate, though fate my provide us with many opportunities, if we have the courage to take them.

God gave us talents. It is sacrilege on our part if we do not use them.

Top story in PoeticHeart34 Daily (Saturday 16 April 2011).

Also see

The Alchemist

The Role of Science and Faith in the Development of Civilisations

Trust your instincts

Whenever we need to make a very important decision it is best to trust our instincts, because reason usually tries to remove us from our dream, saying that the time is not yet right. Reason is afraid of defeat, but intuition enjoys life and its challenges.

— Paulo Coelho