Faith

When I was a child, we often visited our grandparents in the country. A river divided their mountain town into two sections. A swinging bridge united the two sections of that town, Oneida, Kentucky.

That swinging bridge terrified me. That ramshackle, jerry-rigged construction of cables and boards, swaying from side to side and undulating up and down in the wind above the South Fork of the Kentucky River, intimidated me. I tried to cross that bridge many times, but my knees always became paralyzed about the same place, five steps in, that the bridge commenced to sway.

Still, I dreamed about the other side of the swinging bridge. I imagined there a country store with exotic flavors of soda pop and varieties of penny candy that the vendors on this side could not supply.

I also dreamed that in that store a child was waiting for me, a child just my age: my ideal, best friend.

I know now what it is that spans the gap between my dreams and ideals and their realization. What is the risk, the price, the cost?

To get to the other side, you've got to cross a swinging bridge.

What is faith? Faith means having the courage to cross a swinging bridge.

Gregory Mobley
Associate Professor of Old Testament