The Climb of a life time

A long time I was invited to attend a leadership camp my school puts on. I was probably 16 years old. It was an overnight camp for students to learn leadership skills. I dont know why I was selected to be a part of this camp. I was a rather timid shy individual. During this portion of my life I suppose someone saw more in me than I saw in myself.

One of the exercises that we did was called "The Ladder exercise". There was in the forest a rope ladder that rose well toward what looked like one hundred feet into the air. It had 2x6s for rungs and was probably eight or nine feet wide. For this exercise we were to climb the ladder. We did it with partners. Each climber had a harness and a rope that went to the top and then back to the bottom. There were three individuals who held the end of the rope and would keep you from falling.

Now I played Rugby in high school but I was not very tall and getting my feet to leave the ground was a trial in and of itself. My partner, however, was on every sports team that he could be a part of. He was tall and well built. Very statuesque. We began our ascent. It was easy at first. The rungs were close together. As we climbed each level the rungs would be further and further apart. I began to struggle to pull myself to the next level. My traveling companion, although attempting to be helpful, was trying to assist me. The people at the bottom also cheered me on. It came to the point that I would need to do two things to make it to the next rung. I needed to jump from the unsteady rung, and I would have to trust that the three individuals who were holding the rope would pull me and support me so that I would fall. I closed my eyes. The pressure of not wanting to disappoint anyone was mounting. I already felt bad about needing so much assistance. I got low, and holding high on the side of the ladder said to myself that I knew I could do this, that I cant trust my friends. They would not let me fall. I began the motion of springing upwards. I raised my hands to grab the rung. The people at the bottom pulled with their might. I found I was going up. I was certain that at this point I should be going down, but I continued up. I made it to the rung and pulled myself up and awkwardly scrambled to my feet. I stood at the top! I had done it! I made it to the top. I didnt do it myself. There were many factors that supported me.

In life we all climb. We have people that climb along side with us. These are our friends. We support and motivate each other. There are times when we cannot climb any further. We must remember that friends are friends. That means you dont stand alone. You may try to, but your friends stand by you because they love you and care for you. You can trust them. There were people for me at the bottom also that cheered me on. While I could only see the next step they had already made the climb. They knew the difficulties. They knew the path I was walking.
There were also the three at the bottom. These three special individuals. They knew there were times that I would not be able to lift myself. So a great plan was set that I would have a rope. This rope was my life line. I could use it to recover myself if I fell. They could use the rope to lift me if I could not lift myself. These three were like God, our loving Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ our brother, and the Holy Ghost. They would call out to me. "Jump! We will lift you! Trust me! we have given you a rope to hold onto!" The rope is the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the plan of Happiness that has been given by our Heavenly Father. There are times when we slip and fall. The Atonement helps us to balance, get on our feet, and rise again. It also helps us in times when we are doing well. Times when we stand on our feet but no the next step cannot be made unless we trust in the plan. We must take the leap of faith and trust in the plan and in our Loving Heavenly Father. Each trial we face gets harder, and we must learn to rely on this plan. If we trust only in ourselves and not in God we will be stuck and unable to make it to the top.

I know God loves us. I am a son of God and He is my Father. He made a plan so we can return to him. The rope is free. We just need to use it. I know Jesus Christ paid the price for that rope. The ultimate life line, without which we could not progress. Without which we would ultimately fall. If we tried to jump without a rope we would come to a point when we would miss and fall. Without that great sacrifice God would not have power to lift us to the next rung. The plan would be frustrated.

My invitation is to take hold of the rope and climb!