The Ledge

After ziplining, Superman style, across the canopy, my heart was beating out of my chest. During my zipline adventure, I had said to myself, “Okay, there is no fear in love and perfect love casts out all fear, so I’m not going to let fear get in the way of any once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.” So when the guide asked if I was doing the Tarzan Swing, I gulped and nodded yes.

The other brave souls and I walked around the corner to a long platform jutting out from the cliff. We needed to go one at a time and of course my friend, up-for-any-crazy-adventure Megan, volunteered to go first. I watched carefully as the guide strapped her in and they talked for a few minutes. As time ticked by, my adrenaline level was rising. Then, suddenly Megan disappeared over the ledge.

Ah!! We heard her scream for about 4 seconds, then burst into fits of laughter, apparently enjoying this madness. “Okay, maybe it’s not that bad,” I tried to reassure myself.

“Proxima! Next!” the guide called from the far end of the platform. I felt like I was walking the plank, but I kept a clear view of the path ahead. Adam cheered me on from behind, and I could hear Megan’s encouragement from below: “You can do it!” At one point, the wind rocked the platform and I screamed for my life.

“Tranquila/Calm down” the guard tried to offer comfort. The entire time, I was racking my brain for all the Spanish Scripture I could remember: “Dios es mi pastor, nada me faltara. En lugares delicados pastos, me hara descansar. Juntos a agua de reposo me pastoreara.”

The guide motioned me closer: “Come,” he said in a deep voice. I didn’t move. “Oh venga..” my brain was in Spanish modem and I didn’t realize what he was asking until given a Spanish translation. I took a step forward so that I was right on the edge of the platform. Now my whole world was spinning; 295 feet below was a clearing in the midst of the Monteverde forest. I was at the same height as some of the giant trees I had admired earlier on our hike. Whiteknuckled, I held onto the railings on either side of me; only a steel bar separated me from the relative safety of the platform and what was inevitably coming.

I heard the guide radio the guy who was supposed to catch/stop me at the bottom. Probably something like, “Incoming.” My eyes widened, and I grabbed onto the long rope that extended from my harness to the wire above. Dear Lord, what am I doing right now? I began to scream, “No puedo, no puedo.” and tried to back away. But instead the guide began the count..uno, dos, tres, and with a swift motion he pushed me off the platform. I felt like I was part of Google Earth, quickly zooming in on my destination.

Now you can imagine, that me, recently having discovered the spirit of adventure and in the past afraid of just jumping off the top of a houseboat, had quite the thrill that day. I was free-falling (also screaming) for a few seconds before the rope caught and I began to swing, just like Tarzan, high above the trees and back, like a pendulum. That part was surprisingly fun—My terrified screams changed to jubilant shouts that I was loving every moment.

When the swing began to deaccelerate, the guide below grabbed my shoes and lowered me gently to the ground. Once unhooked, I pumped my arms up into the air and yelled “Gloria a Dios! I’m alive!” Adrenaline still pulsing through my veins, I began to hug everyone I saw. “I’m alive! I’m alive!” Then again, the realization of what I had just done crossed my mind, and I thought, “Hey, now I can do ANYTHING..” Well, not quite, but the invincible feeling was definitely there.

Afterwards, we enjoyed seeing people’s different reactions to the swing and admiring how high people swung above the trees. We removed our gear and began the slow hike back up the mountain.

On the way, Megan shared with me a really powerful verse that sums up my anxiety and God’s answer:

"Porque no nos ha dado Dios espíritu de cobardía, sino de poder, de amor y de dominio propio." -2 Timoteo 1:7

Or in the amplified version:

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control."