One night, a young mountain climber’s mother woke suddenly from a terrifying dream. In it, she watched her son climbing a steep cliff along the side of a high mountain. Without warning, a rock he was relying on for support tore loose from the wall. He reached desperately for another hold, but it was too late. She watched in horror as he fell to his death—and then she woke, gasping for breath.
This was no ordinary dream. She knew it instinctively. Somehow, she understood that she had just witnessed the future.
But she was no ordinary mother either. She understood magic—and how to work with it.
Beginning that very morning, and repeating the process several times each day, she entered meditation and returned to the dream. Each time, she relived it fully. And at the precise moment her son began to fall, she reached out to him and held him there—steadying him long enough for him to find another rock and regain his balance.
After each session, she turned inward and listened carefully to her deeper feelings. Had anything truly changed? At first, the answer was always no. She could still feel the same outcome waiting ahead—he was still going to fall and die. So she returned to meditation later that day and repeated the entire process again. And again. And again. She never gave up.
She was determined that the dream would end differently—not only in her imagination, but in reality. Her son was not going to fall. He was going to live.
Then, months later, something changed.
As she reached out to stop his fall during one of her meditations, she felt it truly happen. Deep within herself, she knew—without doubt—that she had just saved his life. And so she never performed the meditation again. The feeling she experienced in that moment told her the work was complete.
About a month later, her son came home, visibly shaken and excited.
“Mother,” he said, “you won’t believe what happened. I was climbing along a cliff when the rock I was holding suddenly pulled out of the wall. I tried to grab another, but I was falling backward too fast and couldn’t reach anything. Then it felt like a hand pressed against my back—pushing me back toward the rock face so I could grab hold again. And I did! It was incredible. I could hardly believe it myself. But it really happened.”
His mother smiled quietly.
It was her secret to keep.
I recognize the feeling she experienced in the moment her rescue succeeded, because I have felt it myself. When praying about the future—whether through words or other means—there is a distinct nervous tension that fills me if my efforts have not yet succeeded. But when they do succeed, a profound peace settles over my entire being. In that moment, I know—deeply and unmistakably—that my petition has been accepted.
It is a complete and satisfying feeling. One that lets me know the work is done, and that what I asked for in prayer is now becoming the physical reality I had hoped for.