DEDICATION
To all who are curious about what real faith is, the bridge connecting man with God.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The following short-story is of course, my own work but I would be failing in my duty if I did not acknowledge what inspired me to write it. It was sparked off by a church sermon on faith that was so inspiring that I decided to develop what I heard into a full-fledged story.
This story is the fruit of my efforts in that direction.
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AN INSPIRING SHORT-STORY ON FAITH
I was dreaming, and in my dream, I was sitting a short distance from an awesome waterfall. As I hadn't seen a waterfall of that kind ever before in life, in my dream, I thought it was Niagara Falls. The air was misty and damp from the foam of the rolling waters.
There was a crowd of people near me, being entertained by an expert acrobat. He was doing various tricks to amuse the crowd on a tightrope tied across the waterfall. There was a similar crowd on the opposite side of the falls and he was entertaining them too.
It was a treat to watch him perform. When I began watching, he was walking blindfolded from my end to the other making slow, stylish movements in the air with a stick, like a magician! Then he started back carrying a sack (which seemed to contain something heavy) on his shoulders. He reached my end safely and was greeted by a burst of applause from the crowd, which he acknowledged with a bow of the head. After chatting with his admirers for a little while, he was off again, this time on a bicycle.
I could make out a small group of youngsters discussing something privately, in a circle. They would often say something excitedly to the acrobat. He would nod and continue. It didn't take me long to guess that they were constantly trying to concoct some frightfully difficult trick for him to perform to get him to fail, but without luck! This acrobat was simply a cut above them all!! Each time they asked him something, he did it with perfect ease... and seemed ready for even more.
"What an impeccable guy!," I thought. "He must be some sort of a genius!! Someone in the league of the great Charles Blondin or Philippe Petit who performed such feats across dangerous places like Niagara Falls, the World Trade Center of the USA, and so on." I watched him with amazement for a while and then... dozed off into sleep.
Hours later, I woke to someone tapping me on my back. When I looked up, I saw it was the acrobat himself! It was evening, close to the end of the day, and the crowds had disappeared. "Hi, there!" he said reaching out his right hand for me to shake. I accepted and shook his hand. "I'm Cherub Bravo," he said. "Now, what are you doing here, all by yourself at this time?" I hesitated a bit but after a little thinking decided to tell him the truth. "I've given up on life," I told him. "No job. No friends. A feeling of worthlessness. I was just wandering about and decided to take some rest here before moving on" I added. He was very kind. "OK!" he said as though he knew it all. Then after a moment, he heaved a deep breath and said softly "I too had problems like that, some years back." Then he told me how he had decided to learn acrobatics and how he had become an expert after some grueling training under the grandmaster of acrobatics, Alpha-O Omega.
When he had finished, he asked me what I thought about his performances. "Supercool!" I answered. "My heart was in my mouth when you did that bicycle trick. When you swerved off the rope slightly in the middle of your journey across, I really thought that was really, IT! You would fall into the water... and die!!".
He stroked his chin a few times thoughtfully and then asked me "How much faith do you have in me, personally? By faith, I mean, the confidence that if you gave me something valuable to take across the falls, I would surely reach the other side with it safely?" I was sure, so I replied: "As sure as God made little green apples." Cherub Bravo said, "Really? If you can prove your faith to me, I'm going to give you a priceless gift that will end all your problems, making you rich and happy for the rest of your life!"
He pointed to a few lambs grazing nearby and asked: "How confident are you about my carrying one of those lambs, across?" I had no hesitation at all, so I replied "One hundred percent!" Then he began to progressively increase the stakes. "Myself on a wheelchair and carrying the Koh-i-Noor embedded crown of Queen Elizabeth in an outstretched hand over the waters?" I was unruffled. "You place a bet of a hundred billion dollars on my safely getting across on a motorbike and while over the highest point of the falls, to do a blinding 360-degree spin, at breakneck speed?" This time, I admit I was a bit scared, but after a short while, told him that I could trust him with that too. Then he asked me "And suppose I was to push YOU across, seated on a big wheelchair?" I said "Er... yes" but without really thinking... To tell you the truth, Cherub's promise of a gift so grand that would end all my life's problems had lifted my spirits high up into the skies, and being so carried away, I wasn't quite thinking about what I was saying.
"Then, let's go!" Cherub Bravo said, eager to test out my faith. He took me by the arm and led me to the edge of the waterfall, to the point where one end of the tight rope was tied. I went with him, walking slowly. There were some trees between us and the waterfall that obscured it from my view. However, when we were near the starting point, through a clearing among the trees, I chanced to look forward - and by God! - that's when I experienced the biggest shock in my life! Right before me were the roaring waters of the falls, churned by unseen maniac forces that shot them forward furiously over the rocks into the great depths below with a loud, booming sound! From a distance, I felt safe, but now, at close range, it sent a sudden, spine-chilling, shock through me, like a bolt of electricity!! I was too terrified even to stand at the edge of the falls, let alone think of crossing it on a wheelchair... not even if the whole operation were to be carried out personally by my hero, the great Cherub Bravo! Electrified by an innate sense of danger, I froze where I stood and cried out "No!".
The shock was so great that it woke me up. When I became fully awake, I realized that I was sweating and there were beads of perspiration on my forehead and face. It took me a few minutes to regain my calm and realize that I was safe in my own house, in the very bedroom I would sleep in, peacefully, night after night!
Of course, I eventually got over the dream and went on with life. But quite often, when I look back on this dream, I ask myself "Although I told Cherub Bravo that I had complete faith in him, did I, really?" The answer is a disappointing "No." When it came to the point of trusting my life to him, I didn't have faith in my hero. But then, isn't that precisely the problem that prevents us from connecting with God who, like Cherub Bravo may be trying to reach out to us from the other side of eternity?
THE END
