At Torrent Falls, a certified guide gave our group instructions on putting on our climbing harnesses, then led us through a safety presentation that was capped off with this cardinal rule which we all had to repeat: "I will not double unclip!"
This was huge! Your real life and death safety while on the rock came from being clipped-in to the via ferrata cable. At no time on the climb were we to unhook both of our harness lines. When we would come to an anchor bolt (which both ended and began a cable section), one harness line was switched to the new section of cable, and then - and only then - were you to unclip, move, and re-clip your second harness line. It was drilled into us to never double un-clip!
In the TSCC parking lot, after the drive home, Guy shared how for us as Christians that maybe our spiritual "double clips" were prayer and God's Word. When he said that, I thought of Jesus' words in John 15. The odds of danger on the rock went through the roof if you allowed yourself to have no support or connection to that which anchored you. Similarly, if I turn from Christ I risk becoming a dead branch, no longer supported by the life-giving connection to my Source. How many times do I face day to day living without that awareness that Jesus is the vine that gives me life? May I believe - deeply and truly believe - Jesus, when he declares that "Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
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