Once upon a time there was a climber who, wishing to overcome more and more challenges, decided after many years of preparation to climb up the highest mountain in South America: the Aconcagua.

Because he wanted all the glory only to himself, he decided to perform the task on his own.

On the scheduled day, he stood by the Andes mountain chain where he would initiate his difficult journey.

However he did not expect that the mist would make it even more difficult, but in fact it did.

Since he had not prepared for camping, he kept on climbing non-stop willing to reach the top. It got late and dark. He could not see anything. There were no stars or moon – darkness took over.

When the climber was at only one hundred meters away from the top, he stepped on a loose rock, tripped and fell over... He started to fall quickly and could not see anything around him but darkness.

He felt a terrible sensation of being sucked by the force of gravity.

He kept on falling until a hard pull almost broke him in half...

He had made sure of all the safety procedures, tying a long rope to his waist.

In those silent moments, hung in the air and in total darkness, he thought about God and decided to ask for help.

“Oh, my God, help me!”

He suddenly heard a low and deep voice that seemed to be talking to the depths of his soul: “What do you want from Me, my son?”

“Save me, please”, he mentally answered.

And the voice insisted: “Do you really believe that I can save you?”

“I am sure, my God”, said the despaired climber.

“Then cut off the rope that hangs you in the air”, the voice recommended.

The man stayed in silence for a moment and then grabbed the rope as tight as he could.

The rescue team tells that, on the following day, the climber was found dead, frozen, holding on to the rope with both his hands, only six feet away from the ground...

What caused the lack of faith in that climber was his lack of sight.

Had the sun been shining around him, he would have realized that by cutting the rope he could have been safe. But that didn’t happen.

Comparing the sunshine with the light of knowledge, we can understand why our faith is hesitating still.

When we illuminate our faith with the light of reason, it becomes so firm that nothing can take it away from us.

And if it is oriented by our knowledge it might move mountains and  remove any obstacle, because it is no longer a vague belief but an unshaken conviction.

Therefore, when we try to understand and study the principles of life, such as the immortality of the soul, for example, we acquire such firm certainty that even the death of the physical body can not shake our foundation, as we are sure that we only leave our body, not life.

Because of the unshakable faith in life after death, the first Christians let themselves go through the torment still praising God in songs of gratitude...

Due to his trust in our Father, Jesus went through all his sacrifice with no sorrow or guilt, teaching that faith is the divine bridge which we must go through from our smallness in the direction of the great freedom - in our climb towards God.  

     Text written by the Spiritist Moment Team, based on a story by unknown author. Translated by P.H.Medeiros.