I have always been very passionate about rock climbing. I got into the sport at a very young age, my parents were always concerned about me getting hurt because I climbed everything I saw!

So my parents decided to put me into rock climbing. Since then, I have learned so much about God through rock climbing. To be honest, I think that is the reason why so many saints and even including Jesus would climb mountains to be closer to our God.

One of the many lessons is the relationship between the climber and belayer. A belayer is a person that has the rope that holds the climber and makes sure that he/she does not fall to the ground, which prevents death or serious injury. If the climber does not trust in the belayer, the fear within the climber will overcome him/her, and they will not be able to finish the climb. There is an unspoken and blind trust that you need to have with your belayer as a climber, and being able to trust that person with your physical life! The power of the belayer towards the climber is unexplainable and powerful. With the trust that the climber has with the belayer, the belayer is able to encourage and push the climber to new heights especially since the belayer has his/hers life right in their hands.

This whole scenario reminds me of God and how He holds my whole life in his hands as He pushes me to new heights and to new parts of my life. I have to trust that He has me and that when I fall, He will catch me and stop me from hitting the ground. Knowing that God will never fail us and that He will never abandon us, we are able to see that He is the perfect belayer, the one who will never let go of us. We just have to trust in Him and He will push us to sainthood and towards the heights of the glory of heaven.

If we allow God to cheer us on in this journey of life and trust that he has us in his hands, then that is the best stepping stone to us becoming a saint for a God that desires so desperately for us. We must trust in Him when we fall, trust that we are able to go past where we fell and reach past the heights of this world, which is heaven. Of course, we can’t do that without God with his strength and glory. As Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati said, “The higher we go, the better we shall hear the voice of Christ.”