Free Falling

 

She is 10 feet in the air. Her foot is set firmly in another’s hand,  his body floating precariously above ground by the strength of another’s legs below him. She flies through the air, with a smile on her face. Spinning as a torpedo, destined for a target. Arms reach out and cradle her fall, only to launch her back into the unknown air above their heads.

She still has a smile on her face. Others scurry to reach the contact spot and she is once again rescued from the unknown above her and placed onto a well known medium: ground. 

Some call this beautiful—it’s an art and a show of strength. It’s a display of “I dare you” and “look what I can do.” It’s an awe-shocking act of death defying displays meant to drop your mouth open and sigh in wonder at what these people are willing to do.

It’s trust.

With trust, there can be no fear. With trust, there is no limit to what can be accomplished. With trust, you can be launched forward into the unknown. With trust, there is no worry about whether or not you will be caught, just a delight when your feet hit the ground again.

Without trust, there is no launch. Without trust, there is a limit to what can be imagined. Without trust, there is fear and worry and angst and unknown.

It’s faith.

With faith, steps don’t have to be seen, just obeyed. With faith, hands don’t have to be inspected, just grasped. With faith, every moment counts. Every movement is graceful, every display covered in fellowship.

Without faith, a step will never happen. Without faith, one will look but not touch. Without faith, every moment is a lost one. Every movement in the wrong direction, filled with guilt and pain.

This last weekend, I knocked something off my bucket list. I went and saw Quidam, a mind blowing artistic masterpiece that left me speechless—but certainly not thoughtless. The faith and trust that these performers had left me shamed at the lack of faith and trust in my own life. The challenging moments in the performance of having to (quite literally) place their life in another’s arms left me wondering where along the spectrum of trust I fell.

I realized that life, although desired to be neat and tidy, with a list of checked or unchecked items to keep us on task, is never without its moments of faith. Life, as compartmentalized and self-reliant as we wish it, will never be without it’s steps of trust.

And, as I crossed that “one more thing” off my bucket list, I wondered when my next leap would be. Because, although I may not know where I will land, I know Who will catch me…He always does.

Be blessed.