Thought for the Month - June 2017
"Leap of faith" by Barry Adair
(World’s oldest skydiver)
Perhaps you saw this on the news recently? Mr Bryson William Verdun Hayes (known as Verdun) jumped 15,000ft from a plane to become the oldest skydiver in the world - at the age of 101 and 38 days. And he only tried skydiving for the first time when he reached 100!
He took to the skies with 10 members of his family to raise money for the Royal British Legion. Where other families meet up for a barbecue or to attend a football match, the Hayes family go skydiving!
The phrase that first jumped into my head when I read the story was "leap of faith", and yet was it? The story hadn't mentioned the phrase but it is a simple enough analogy to make. I had also been thinking about a particular "leap of faith" recently and hence this month's Thought!
In the article I had read about the world's oldest skydiver, it seems that Verdun was all 'matter of fact' about the jump. There was certainly no mention of a "leap of faith". He hadn't been too worried about doing the jump and after he touched down, he simply said "hooray".
Verdun's jump, although breath-taking and incredibly impressive, wasn't a "leap of faith". I hope to explain this later. By the way, I just want to add that there is NO way that you would get me doing what Verdun did. My wife will tell you that even getting me on a roller-coaster in years gone by was hard enough!
I also thought about one more momentous skydive. Do you remember Felix Baumgartner? Come on, how can you forget a name like that!? In 2012 Felix jumped from an altitude of 24 miles and became the first man ever to break the sound barrier. No one had ever jumped from that height or had experienced super-sonic speed unaided before. So this surely was a leap of faith then?
No, even this second example, incredible as it was, can't be called a leap of faith.
A "leap of faith", in its most commonly used meaning, is the act of believing in or accepting something intangible or unprovable, or without empirical evidence. It is an act commonly associated with religious belief, specifically to the Christian God. The phrase is attributed to Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. And, no, before now I hadn't heard of him either!
My reading of Kierkegaard's philosophy, written in the early 1800's, is that he believed it was important for people to have a meaningful existence. And meaning comes from whether or not people sense that their lives have a permanent significance. The problem, as he saw it, was that most people believed that their lives have importance only temporarily. Kierkegaard acknowledged that God alone could provide this permanence. But to believe in a God that we can't experience in any physical form requires "faith". For an individual to believe and trust in a supernatural God requires a "leap of faith". No actual physical jumping is involved but for everyone who believes it is a leap from spiritual death unto life!
Have you ever taken this "leap of faith"? Do you believe in the God who made you and every part of the Universe you live in?
God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but He does what is still more wonderful: He makes saints out of sinners.
Soren Kierkegaard
Do you believe that He sent His only begotten Son to die for you on a Roman cross over 2,000 years ago? Do you know the forgiveness that only God can grant through believing faith in Him?
Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further.
Soren Kierkegaard
Do you know that you are accepted in the Beloved? Do you have a real reason for living and a purpose for your life? If not, please read the link at the bottom of this Thought or email us anytime if you have questions about becoming a Christian.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
And I will end with a final quote for Christians everywhere, one that certainly made me think…
We are what is called a 'Christian' nation - but in such a sense that not a single one of us is in the character of the Christianity of the New Testament.
Soren Kierkegaard
Until next month (DV)…
Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!