Spirituality Allows Us To Have The Courage
To Trust What Is Deepest Within Us
One evening a man was out walking, but he had become so absorbed is his own thoughtsthat, without realizing, had wandered way off course and was now completely lost.It was getting late and cold and would soon be dark. An hour or so passed and it wasnow pitch-black. He began to feel afraid and his steps became quicker and unsteady.
Suddenly, something underneath him gave way and he fell. He tumbled down and down andjust as he way about to fall over a ledge, he managed to grab onto a branch. But, hewas now just hanging there; no way to climb back up and nothing but darkness below him.
"Help! Somebody!! Please... Help me!" he cried out. But no one came; it was a desolate place.He was terrified. His hands were freezing cold and he was losing his grip on the branch.
There was no one to help!!In sheer desperation this man, who was an atheist, call out to God, "Please... please... if you'rethere... God... please help me, save me and I will believe in you always!!"
Suddenly, and to his amazement, a voice echoed all around him, "Trust Me... Let Go... I've Got You... Trust In Me."
The man looked around him and below him and thought for a moment, then he mumbled to himself,"Let go? Trust? You must think I'm mad?? No way!"
This story doesn't always end like this but I think that many people find themselvesin this man's situation. Maybe not necessarily hanging from a branch in the middle of nowhere, but never the less in a desperate situation where all their deepest instincts aretelling them just to let go, to surrender themselves to a higher, deeper power or energyof some kind, to drop... into the unknown, with just trust. But they are so full of doubtand fear that they just cling on instead.
The alternate ending to this story is that the desperate man, sensing he has little choice,decides to let go. He falls into the void below, but moments later he finds himself on solidground. It had been so dark that he could never have known that the ground was no more than about20ft below. He was safe and unharmed. What's more, it turns out that the ground he has landed onis a pathway; the pathway he had been searching for all along - the route home!
To me, this whole story is a lovely metaphor for having the courage to trust what is deepest withinus, no matter what, to have the nerve to surrender to ourselves.
We will get a beautiful surprise. The dark void is actually the source of all life. The 'ground' belowis actually the "Ground of Being", which is another way of saying God, which is another way of saying ourtruest, realest Nature. This is most definitely the way home!
Written in 2006 by Simon Heighwaya