Conquering fear of heights

Do heights ever make you uncomfortable? They do me, at times. I’ve never been fond of looking over the edge of a super deep canyon, or riding in a gondola car that takes one to atmospheric heights. I’ll do it, and I’m getting better at it, but still have progress to make.

Today, I made major progress in finding peace about heights while riding in a gondola car to the top of the Matterhorn.

It was one of the most jaw-dropping rides I’ve ever taken in terms of spectacular scenery and views on the way. But what caught my attention even more, was that we were really really high up! When I looked down over of the sides of the car, I wanted to close my eyes and stand in the middle of the car.

I asked myself, “Why do you feel nervous about being hundreds of feet above deep crevasses, rocks and valleys below?” The answer was easy. “Because this car is man-made, the cables are man-made, they are material, and they will eventually fail, and they might fail today!” And to emphasize the point, mortal mind continued with, “And you can’t argue with that can you? You are in danger, and that’s just the way it is.”

My spiritual sense instantly rebelled at the suggestion that I was in a helpless or hopeless situation. I knew that wasn’t true, but I was struggling with the “This car is man-made and might fail,” part.

I thought backward to Truth, and remembered that God is the creator of all things. The human mind might call God’s creations, or ideas, Gondola cars, cables and steel towers, but in actual spiritual fact, all things that exist are spiritual, immortal, and indestructible. They do not fall apart, and they do not fail.

I suddenly realized that I felt fear because I was seeing myself as mortal in a material situation. No wonder I was afraid! That would always be a precarious position to be in. Nothing is reliable in mortality.

So, I did a freeing reversal of everything mortal mind was trying to convince me of. I reversed the belief that the gondola was man-made. That was impossible. All engineering ideas come from divine Mind. The whole cable-car ride to the top of the mountain, and the safety of it, was designed in Mind and revealed through the engineers that put those towers in place. The same Mind that created the original idea, was maintaining it. I was not riding in a material car made by human hands. I was standing in the omnipresence of Love. The force and power of Love was holding us in the sky, not cables and towers. The cables and towers may have represented the invisible support of the divine, but they were not the support. The support was divine.

With this breakthrough in reasoning, I found quick peace in knowing the hand of God was literally underneath that car holding it in place while we traveled from one peak to the next. There was no space between me and safety. There was no distance between me and firm ground to stand upon. I was standing upon spiritual ground, and it would not fail me.

My fear melted. I relaxed and enjoyed the view. It was breathtaking.

I got a more profound glimpse than ever that we truly live in a universe of divine Mind, not an atmosphere of matter. The reason I had been afraid is because I was thinking I lived in a material situation that was dangerous. Once I accepted that I live in a universe of Spirit, and was traveling in it, the fear dissolved.

From the top. The Matterhorn in the background.

I’m sure I’ll be tested again, but this was a banner day for conquering fear of heights! In the heights of divine Mind, there is nothing to be afraid of.

Oh, and the view from the top, once I got there, was awesome beyond words. It was worth the mental obstacles I had to overcome to get there. As is true with all new heights we attain in our metaphysical journey Spirit-ward.

View of Matterhorn from Zermatt, where we stayed.