THERE’S so many of us who wonder why we’ve been thrown into this cruel, hard world, with it’s misfortunes, betrayals, dishonesty and more. Some shudder at hardships, depression and tough days they wearily crawl through, grey, dark and dim, with no sign of abatement.
Nanda Devi is surrounded by a ring of mountains enclosing the Sanctuary, which despite decades of attempts, no one was able to enter. In 1934 Eric Shipton, and his associates succeeded in finding a climbing route into the Sanctuary, via the Rishi Ganga gorge.
Eric Shipton it was who in 1951 came upon the footprint of the ‘Abominable Snowman’ He placed his ice axe next to it for scale and took a picture, showing how huge the Yeti was.
Mount Everest was conquered by Edmund Hilary and Tenzing. They climbed from the south, from Nepal, via the Khumbu Glacier, again a route first pioneered and discovered in 1951 by a team led by Eric Shipton! What a discoverer was Eric Shipton!
But here’s an interesting account by the same famous explorer, and listen to what he says, “When I reached Bergen, Norway,“ he says, “I found that due to some miscalculation, I had only just enough money for my ticket by boat to London and none to spare for food.”
“In those days I had a healthy appetite, and the prospect of a two day fast was not pleasant. I grew more and more ravenous as the voyage progressed. Finally, I could stand it no more and, as the other passengers were entering the ship’s dining for the last meal, I asked a kindly looking old gentleman if he would bring some bread when he finished.”
“He looked at me in astonishment,” said Shipton, “and asked, ‘But why don’t you come in and eat?” I explained my plight, to which he replied pityingly, ‘But you don’t have to pay; meals are included in your ticket!”
Can you imagine one of the greatest discoverers, a man who discovered the Rishi Ganga Sanctuary, who found the footprint of the yeti and the route that led to the climbing of Everest, not looking closely at his ticket, to finally discover at the end of his journey, that he never needed to have gone hungry?
What about you and me? Have we looked closely at our ticket called life? Have we seen that it includes all the help you and I need to face and conquer what we think is a cruel, tough and dark world? What a waste!
Start looking at that lifeline called ‘prayer’ so boldly engraved on your ticket and use it unashamedly, unconditionally and unassumingly all the time. Stop going hungry because you, the conqueror, successful businessman, single parent, brilliant mind, clever child, aren’t using your ticket..!
—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com
