What
do you see in your own life that parallels Peter’s attempt to walk
on water? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, page
1361).
I
think it may be a sort of arrogance on the part of any mere mortal to
dream of making a decisive difference in this world—for good or
ill, but most especially for good. It is rather easy I suppose to
make a difference for ill; all one need do in America is secure a gun
(available everywhere—we are a nation of abundance) and kill an
innocent bystander. And we must not underestimate the attractiveness
this alternative can have for an errant loner with haunting diffuse
anxieties of ineffectiveness. Yet, to do something good that might
have lasting impact on anyone…that belief requires bare-knuckle
faith. The transience of life and the steady reminder of
obsolescence, including that of any good we may do, comprise the
inexorable drumbeat of fate that undermine any drive to realize
permanent beneficent change. The only satisfactory response to this
innervating undermining of effort is the tenacious belief that
eternal providence stands ready to underwrite our meager
contributions miraculously and significantly (like the growth of a
little mustard seed). If we don’t have this faith, we will soon
find ourselves moping about with our tails between our legs. For
humans, to be happy and tail wagging requires either a good measure
of false and foolish hope or, on the contrary, an abiding belief in
the realism and efficaciousness of faith.
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