A Modern Day Miracle

I was in Dahab just beside the red sea when I decided I wanted to climb Mount Sinai overnight and see the sunrise.

The drive out to "Jabal Mousa" was about 1 hour 15 minutes, we had to stop at a checkpoint and pass over our passports which I wasn't real keen about but by the look of the soldiers faces I had no choice whatsoever.

The soldiers had massive AK47's, and I was not for piping up in a non-Arabic language that I wasn't comfortable with this whole situation. After our minibus carrying about 12 of us arrived at the bottom of the mountain we were split-up into other groups with other tourists already there.

Keen to get moving, I volunteered myself into the group that was heading up the mountain first. It was made very clear to us we weren't allowed to climb the mountain alone. We were told to stick close to each other in the group and not to veer off the path, as the mountain could be dangerous, especially in the dark.

We set off up the mountain. I had a bottle of water and a fleece which I had to borrow from one of the guys who worked at the hostel I was staying at in Dahab.

I was using the light on my old Samsung flip phone as a torch. There were around 10 of us in the group and everyone was so keen and eager at the beginning but after about an hour people started asking "are we there yet"?

Our guide kept it simple and said "about another hour" but after another hour when we asked him "are we there yet" and he said the same thing we knew that it was going to be a long night.

We stopped at a little shanty hut; there were a few of them strategically placed about the mountain, everyone in my group went ahead of me to get drinks while I waited outside and admire the stars. I ran in at the last minute to get a hot chocolate as the temperature on the mountain had dropped below zero, and I was blooming freezing.

By the time I came out, I couldn't find my group, but I saw a trail off to the left and thought that they couldn't be that far ahead. Having walked on my own for a further 10 minutes or so I realised that I had started to lose the trail and I remembered what the mountain guide had told us at the beginning of the night "stick close".

When I looked up all I could see was the black outline of the massive mountain against the starry night sky, and when I looked down all I could see was a wriggly snakelike trail of the other group's miles below me zig-zagging up the mountain.

I started to get a bit frightened, and the more I walked, the more I realised that I was alone, lost in the middle of Mount Sinai, and if I kept walking alone in the dark, there was every chance that I could lose my footing and fall and badly injured myself or worse.

I found a massive flattish type rock and climbed up onto it to give myself a better viewing platform, but it was no use, I couldn't see where the others had gone, and I had even lost sight of the zig-zagging lights trail below.

I sat down on the rock, dropped my head in my hands and started to pray (well we were on Mount Sinai), and I just said: "Hi God, if you're there and you can hear me please can you help me". "I'm terrified and all out of options right now and all I want to do is find my group and summit the mountain".

Just as I said those words, I heard someone yelling at me in Arabic, and when I looked up, I saw an older man walking towards me covered head to toe in his white Arab outfit apart for the headpiece which looked my Mums old cheesecloth tea-towel that she used back in the '70s. Great, I thought, I started seeing my life flash in front of my eyes, could I trust the Arabic man coming towards me? I started screaming at him I don't speak Arabic, he kept coming towards me, and by this stage flailing his arms in the air screaming "what are you doing on the mountain by yourself, you should not be here".

By this stage, I was crying, and I told him "I'm lost". The energy at that moment changed, the tanned pruned faced Arab put his hand out towards me, palms facing saying "peace", the mystery man said "please, don't be scared". I was a blubbering mess by this stage and I started to walk backwards, he said: "PLEASE STOP, there is a cliff edge there, you could fall".

He held out his hand, and for a split second I was debating whether or not to take it, but I took his hand and as he cupped my hand in both of his, he just said: "what is your name". I told him my name is "Nichola", "well he said Nichola, my name is Moses, God will guide us to the summit".

Moses and I rocked on up the mountain together; he didn't let go of my hand for the rest of the difficult climb, which included some large rocks and what felt like vertical climbing. He didn't say too much, he just kept looking at me and saying "it's ok" and every time he said this I would get this massive wave of peace come over me. When we got to the top, there were people there already and my new mate Moses asked me if I could see my group, I told him I could, and he told me to wait where I was for one minute and that he would get me something.

I waited, and he returned with a big fleecy blanket, he said that I would need it as it was going to get colder before the sun came up. The sun came up, and I will never forget that sunrise for the rest of my days, all the different reds, golds, orange, teal like colours bouncing around the mountain from the morning sun across the desert terrain as far as the eye could see. Before we went down the mountain, I visited some of the seller's stalls and kept asking if anyone had seen Moses and I told them that he had helped me climb the mountain the night before and that I had his blanket for him.

After I asked about the third seller, I was tired of them either not understanding me or not knowing who this guy Moses was.

Back at the hostel later that morning the guy who had lent me his fleece jacket asked me if I enjoyed Mount Sinai and I said yes, but the strangest thing happened. I told him my story and then even he starting shouting in Arabic and flailing his arms in the air just like fricking Moses did, I thought what now? What is it with these Arab men, then he turned to me and said in English, Nicky, you do realise that Mount Sinai is where Moses was given the 10 commandments?

Well, right there, right then, you could have blown me over with a feather, this I had not known – I guess I didn't listen too well at Sunday School.

That night/day, my world changed forever. I am not a religious person and don't like using the word spiritual. What I will say is that something happened on that mountain that night and to this day when I am under pressure and need to manage my stress levels, I tune into my modern day miracle that was the meeting of Moses on Mount Sinai.

I have developed my experience into a mindfulness meditation practice and no matter who I have passed this stress management tool on to, people always say to me that suddenly everything in their life "is ok".

Take care

NM