Faith
The picture that always comes to me when I think about the meaning of "Faith" is a scene from the movie 'Temple of Doom'. In search of the Holy Grail the hero (Micheal Douglas?) comes to a deep black gap at the end of a cliff. He steps out into the total darkness and then suddenly a bridge appears! But he had to step out first. To just put his foot out there into the emptiness when his brain will be screaming that he is going to fall....
I was reminded of the picture again when I was talking to my niece last night. Faith bridges chasms that reason cannot fathom. It is scary. And you ask yourself again and again, Is that what God really wants? And then on and on till you ask "Is there a God?" because you want to hold on to what you think is certainty - the certainty of reason and logic. But God's message defies reason. His message is one of unconditional love, grace and a goodness that the human mind cannot understand. But as the French mathematician and theologian Blaise Pascal noted long ago, "The heart has reasons that reason does not know." God can be understood only with the heart, with trust in what cannot be seen, only felt.
I will look at this again the next time I need to act in faith :)
2 comments:
Blaise Pascal! I read that quote in my QT a week ago. and that reminded me of something Bailey's dad told me something he'd read too:
When writer Henri Nouwen asked a trapeze artist how, after letting go of his hand-hold, he does multiple turns in the air and then still manages to orientate himself such that he can grab hold of the hands of another trapeze artist, the artist said that Nouwen had gotten it wrong - it's not his job to grab his partner's hands, but the job of the partner to grab his. If he tried to grab his partner's hands he would break his arms and tumble to his death. And Nouwen related it to what he thought death would be like - we just have to stretch out our hands, and we may not be able to see what's coming next, we just have to trust that God won't let us fall and His hands will be there to catch ours. We don't have to be trying to grab His!
somewhat related to your entry and a little different i guess. and Temple of Doom? wasn't that Indian Jones? and doesn't Indiana Jones=Harrison Ford?
Michael Douglas?? MOTHER.
Oh sweetie - of course you are right!!! It WAS Harrison Ford. But you know me ... and trust YOU to remember stuff like that, Trivia Queen! But hey that story about the trapeze artiste is really good. When tough times come, we will remind each other of it, ok - to trust God will catch us :)
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