04 June 2014

Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith





My ride home from work takes me right along a river. The sun was setting and the river was perfectly still. I was breathing, taking it all in and the words of Jesus came to mind:



"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin"

How can it be that it comes so easy to trust (or one could even say "believe") that the sun will rise each day yet when it comes to trusting in the Master of all creations or the very laws which make the sun rise, we hesitate and stumble? 

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding"

My own understanding is very limited; that is what's so frustrating about being mere mortals. If you are anything like me, I take comfort in reassurances. Fine, if I'm being totally honest, I need it so bad I"ll take it from random strangers. But that, I am coming to learn, means you do not really trust. I spent 26 years of my life thinking I trusted in God, believed he would take care of me but I don't. Not really. My trust comes in the form of "You're gonna take care of me... right?" or "Yeah, yeah.... I'm going to be okay. Yeah, I got this... yeah, here's a list of 435 reasons why this is a good idea. Yeah... we got this". Shocking the universe doesn't think I really trust it right?

There was a family of ducks crossing the river today. I thought to myself, "I bet the only thing that mother duck is thinking about is the fact that she's in the water, crossing to the other side with her babies. She is not chatting with her girlfriends, seeking confidence that crossing the river is a good idea. She simply knows." She trusts in herself, in nature, in her Creator.  She trusts just as the river she swims in trusts that if it needs to go somewhere, the wind will provide the way.

Oh how I longed to be as trusting as Mother Duck or Brother River in that moment. How I longed to have the peace which "passes all understanding". Such peace that surely only comes when trust is in your heart; from knowing that as surely as the sun will rise, so shall you. Each day.

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that [trust] him."

So how? How do I be like Mother Duck? How do I begin?
Step One--  "Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have."
Step Two-- Take a deep breath and leap.
Step Three-- Remember the lilies.  

1 comment:

Patti said...

Excellent analogy! My favorite part of trusting is the peace, and the calm. Happy leaping (and deep breathing)!