Some people go through their entire life and never experience the kind of love that sweeps them off their feet. And such people often go through their entire life believing such a love does not exist.
Yet, you’d be hard pressed to find a person that thinks that love is a waste of time; a pursuit better left unexplored. We don’t hold love responsible for people’s failings to believe it. The majority of us continue to move towards love, despite the real possibility of getting disappointed all over again.
Now take the idea of religious faith, considered by many to be an irrational pursuit. This sentiment is captured so well by Jack Nicholson’s character, Edward, in the movie The Bucket List:
“I honestly envy people who have faith. I just can’t get my head around it.”
To Edward, the idea of abandoning his mental faculties to a being or presence that he does not hear or see and consequently cannot work out for himself, is too great an ask. After all, as a successful businessman he deals in weighing up risk and reward, so if he can’t see it, why would he bet on it?
But what if the pursuit of true faith does not require the abandonment of reason. What if faith is as close to us as the experience of love.
Uncertain?…yes. Risky?…yes. Requiring openness and trust?…yes. Need time to mature?…yes. Sometimes messy?…yes. Seasons of confusion?…yes. But through it all – just like love – we learn to embrace the journey of faith and become utterly, immovably convinced of the presence of an enigmatic force that beckons us towards greater things, and is yet, strangely comforting. Like a déjà vu of home. The ability to have faith is not actually as removed from us as we sometimes think. What we need is a keen sense of adventure and a willingness to explore the depths. To be brave.
You see, conversely:
Some people go through their whole life and never experience the kind of faith that sweeps them off their feet. For this reason, some people go through their entire life believing that such a faith does not exist.