Graham’s story

'When I was caving, I relied on Psalm 23'

‘Caving was a big part of my life for many years. When you are in times of danger or extreme fear, like being on a rope on a cliff, that tends to concentrate the mind. 

‘I had to memorise Psalm 23 at school. I especially liked the part about not being afraid. It says that there is nothing to fear. That makes me think that God is with you. So, I used to say it when I was caving. 

‘One time, I was caving in the UK and had entered a tunnel which started to collapse. I started to recite the 23^rd Psalm and passages seemed to hold themselves up until I had just crawled out of them. It felt as if the tunnel was literally being held up. 

‘We never read the guide books, but that was the fun of it. When we came out of it, I read the guide book and it said, “the entrance will collapse”. We were idiots. 

‘There were other situations too. We took a team down a pull-through drop. You walk up the mountain with the rope and take the rope down with you, so you can’t go back up. We had come down the first pitch and was crawling down a coffin level and we heard a flood pulse, which is when it’s raining and it goes straight into the system. 

‘We had to get out. We literally escaped with our lives, but there was a team that died just behind us. That was one of those times [when I relied on Psalm 23]. I couldn’t see any floor before me, all I could see was big water. As soon as I went under the water it was that strong, I couldn’t hold on. I was floating through the stream, but I seemed to be rushed to the ledge at the side. I don’t know how that happened. I had been saying the Psalm 23 before I went down. 

‘The Bible was my dirty secret. I had my Bible in my bag so my friends wouldn’t see me. 

‘I was reckless, but there were also moments of fear. Psalm 23 calmed me each time so I didn’t panic.’