Rooftop
February 26th, 2006I was up on the highest part of our roof the other day and I was scared. I was scared the roof would not hold my weight, scared CJ would lean just a little too far over the side and go plunging down to his death, scared I would lose my balance and go sliding and tumbling all the way down the slope of the roof and splat on the deck.
Faith is commonly illustrated using chairs. One generally seats one’s self with the idea that the chair will support one; you have faith that the chair will support you and so you sit. This is an unfair example because it makes faith sound so easy. It’s not! Faith is a lot more like sitting on a rooftop.
What were you doing up there, anyhow??
I’ve been thinking…I never really liked the chair illustration anyhow. My favorite illustration of faith is the one of the ice on the pond. It doesn’t matter how much faith you have that it will hold you; if the conditions are right (wrong??), it will crack and you’ll be in jeopardy. However, if the ice is solid, it doesn’t matter how little faith you have; if you walk on it, it will hold you…the point being that it is not the amount of faith you have that matters, but what (Who) your faith is in. Also, the action aspect of faith can’t be ignored–we demonstrate faith by taking action, not by feeling a certain way. You demonstrated faith in your roof by being on it, even though you didn’t feel like it was a good idea. You also demonstrated faith in your own athleticism!!
The rooftop story makes more sense when you learn the identity of the third person up there.
Jessica, I really, really liked your second comment!
As to why we were on the rooftop, CJ, Andy and I were entertaining ourselves removing branches broken by the last heavy snowfall. It occurred to me that we should also remove the bees’ nests collected on our house. Once the ladder was out, the temptation to go up was irresistable.
So you weren’t worried about Andy plunging to HIS death?? Do you have more faith in his balancing act than CJ’s??
Andy wasn’t the one farthest out, on the highest peak, and leaning over the edge!
Sorry, I still don’t see how knowing there was a third person up there contributes to the sense of the story…
The assumption is that if Andy had not been there we would not have thought of hanging out up there.