The harness is secured tightly around my thighs, the tummy, chest and over the shoulders. I walk up six steps on the ladder and face my tormentor.
This is crazy.
The knees begin to shake and the tummy turns over. The safety instructor rigs the winching rope with the release cord. Final instructions and encouragement given.
There is the initial step off the ladder as the tension is taken up by the crew of runners ready to winch you up 8 meters into the sky. “Oh, that’s not so bad…at least the rope holds my weight”, crosses my mind.
The rapid assent into the heavens begins. “Oh, God! Oh, God!… Geeez I hope I don’t swear. Don’t swear. Don’t say …”, flashes through my mind.
Then all is still and I am bobbing gently in the breeze. The shouts of glee below, “Pull the release cord, pull, pull…” And a random thought, “Hey, the view’s not bad from up here.”
Pull.
The 8 metre free fall begins so suddenly. I’m sure my tummy is still at the top admiring the view as I plummet toward earth. My greatest fear escapes my lips, “@$#%!”, loosely translated, “Oh, Gosh!”. But the slackened ropes attached to me tighten, my body gracefully sweeps into a perfect arc, and I can grab a little breath at the weightless top before I free fall back from whence I came.
I begin to relax as the realisation sets in that it’s not all that bad. The ever decreasing swings become quite relaxing. Eventually I am rescued and terra-firma once again assures my soul that all is well.
The death-defying 8 metre free fall swing has been conquered.
You know, it dawned on me that sometimes in life we face some insurmountable fears. At the peak of our fear most will usually call out to God. Even during the free fall, when we are at our most vulnerable and weakest, God answers our prayers just like the harness and ropes take up the tension and assists us to gracefully swing away from the pending danger looming up towards us.
And even if the unspeakable were to happen, for me as a Christian, I am assured that I would land firmly in God’s lap… for eternity. It really is a win-win situation.
Hey! Where’s the next heart-in-my-mouth challenge? Bring it on!