Chase Hawkins
If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know that I’ve referenced the movie “The Dark Knight Rises” before (see my post “In Christ Alone, My Hope is Found”). Well, brace yourselves: another reference is coming.
In Christopher Nolan’s finale to the “Dark Knight” series, Bruce Wayne is stuck in a prison in a foreign country. The only escape from the prison is a large opening at the top, making the prison in the form of a pit. Bruce knows that the only way out is to scale the walls of the opening and make a jump from one ledge to another. Bruce tries this by tying a rope around his waist to catch him if he misses the jump.
After a few failed attempts with a rope to save him from certain death, Bruce seeks advice from an old prisoner. The prisoner tells him that he must attempt the jump “as the child did… without the rope”. If Bruce tries the jump without a rope to keep him safe, he runs the risk of falling to his death if he misses the ledge. However, without the rope, Bruce is not being held back and he is more able to make that leap of faith. So, Bruce tries the jump without the rope and makes it out of the pit. He took a leap of faith.
My senior year of high school religion class, we watched this movie and discussed the aspects of morality and faith. My senior year religion teacher, Mr. Bohne (boh-nay) was one of the most open-minded people I have ever met. Characterized by his signature white mustache that was cut a smidge shorter on the left than on the right and his tall coffee from Starbucks, Mr. Bohne was just an overall fun person to be around. Having five different senior religion classes, he lost track of what stories or lessons he had told sometimes. So we heard a repeated story or lesson every once in a while.
One of my favorite repeated lessons of his regarded faith and belief. I actually think he repeated this one so often because it was important, not because he forgot that he told us already. This is what he would say about faith, “I don’t know if my wife loves me. I’ve been married for 30-something years and I have never known that she actually loves me. She could up and leave tomorrow and say that she never truly loved me. So why do I trust that she won’t do that? Because I have faith that she loves me. But I don’t know. I can never know.” He would continue, “Many of you believe in God. Many of you don’t believe that God exists. But do any of us know if God exists? No. But if God were to appear right here in this room, none of us would believe in God. But we would all know God exists.”
This makes sense if you think about it. No one knows that God exists. However, we have a copious amount of reason to believe that he does. And if God did appear in front of us, we wouldn’t have to believe because we would know. Faith is believing in what we cannot see.
I don’t intend to make this post about God’s existence but I would like to make the following point: Many people don’t believe that God exists because they desire proof. The difficulty here is that no one can prove God exists. Christians don’t have proof that God exists. They wouldn’t be believers if they did. (On the flip side of this, no one can prove that God doesn’t exist.) Faith is what Christianity (and Catholicism to be specific) revolve around. Faith is what we are built on as Christians. Again, if God appeared before us, we would no longer need to believe in God’s existence.
In his letter to the Hebrews, St. Paul references several instances of how faith allowed men and women of the Old Testament to do great things through God. The entire 11th Chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews is known as “The Hall of Faith” as it describes the Biblical definition of faith. That is, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). I would encourage you to read Hebrews 11 on your own, since I will refrain from quoting an entire chapter of the Bible in one blog post. (A link is here: http://usccb.org/bible/hebrews/11).
But faith can be challenging sometimes. Sometimes it can be difficult to take that next step on the journey of faith.
Another thing Mr. Bohne would say is, “In our lives, we’ll come to a place where we need to take a leap of faith.”
A leap of faith is something that many of us are apprehensive about taking. Sometimes this leap of faith includes putting ourselves out there and not worrying what others think of ourselves. Sometimes this leap of faith is joining a sports team or a club. No matter what your leap of faith might be, one thing is in common about all leaps of faith. You must let go of the rope, like Bruce Wayne, and not hold back. There’s no way you can make the leap of faith, if you do not fully trust what’s on the other side.
To give another analogy for faith, imagine diving in the ocean. If you go snorkeling, you can see and enjoy the beautiful reefs, fish, and other creatures. But the deeper you go, the more equipped you must be. A scuba diver needs an oxygen tank and a wetsuit in order to survive in the deeper waters. This is because the deeper you dive into the ocean the more difficult it becomes to be a diver.
As a Christian, you can go snorkeling in your faith. Everything can seem nice and beautiful on the surface. You don’t need too much equipment. But Christianity isn’t about always nice and beautiful. In fact, the face of Christianity sweated blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. That’s not particularly nice or beautiful. Christianity isn’t about emotions and feelings. Christianity is about dragging your cross up the hill to Calvary. Christianity is about having faith through the waves of doubt.
However, if you dive deeper into your faith, you need to be more equipped. How can you become more equipped? Prayer, fasting, service, saying the rosary, going to Mass, reading Scripture, and loving others to name a few. Similarly, when you dive deeper into your faith, you become more and more challenged. It becomes more difficult – even if you have equipped yourself. Just as a diver becomes more compressed the deeper he ventures into the ocean, so too do we become more challenged the deeper we venture into our faith. But the benefit to diving deeper into our faith is that we learn more about ourselves and God.
As we take these leaps of faith and as we dive deeper into our own faith, we come across many difficulties. Maybe others don’t accept us for being ourselves. Maybe we don’t find our place in that sports team or club. However, we must have faith in the God we believe in and trust that he will be waiting on the other side of the canyon.
Challenge of the Week(end): Spend 10 minutes of quiet time. Preferably, do so outside of your home. Go to a chapel or a church, sit on a bench, or go for a stroll. Also, read and reflect on Hebrews chapter 11. Explore the depths of your faith.
St. James, ora pro nobis.
St. Francis of Assisi, ora pro nobis.
St. Margaret Clitherow, ora pro nobis.
Bl. William Joseph Chaminade, ora pro nobis.
Chawkins.
Song:
"The Creed" by Hillsong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuDI-sk2nJU
In Christopher Nolan’s finale to the “Dark Knight” series, Bruce Wayne is stuck in a prison in a foreign country. The only escape from the prison is a large opening at the top, making the prison in the form of a pit. Bruce knows that the only way out is to scale the walls of the opening and make a jump from one ledge to another. Bruce tries this by tying a rope around his waist to catch him if he misses the jump.
After a few failed attempts with a rope to save him from certain death, Bruce seeks advice from an old prisoner. The prisoner tells him that he must attempt the jump “as the child did… without the rope”. If Bruce tries the jump without a rope to keep him safe, he runs the risk of falling to his death if he misses the ledge. However, without the rope, Bruce is not being held back and he is more able to make that leap of faith. So, Bruce tries the jump without the rope and makes it out of the pit. He took a leap of faith.
My senior year of high school religion class, we watched this movie and discussed the aspects of morality and faith. My senior year religion teacher, Mr. Bohne (boh-nay) was one of the most open-minded people I have ever met. Characterized by his signature white mustache that was cut a smidge shorter on the left than on the right and his tall coffee from Starbucks, Mr. Bohne was just an overall fun person to be around. Having five different senior religion classes, he lost track of what stories or lessons he had told sometimes. So we heard a repeated story or lesson every once in a while.
One of my favorite repeated lessons of his regarded faith and belief. I actually think he repeated this one so often because it was important, not because he forgot that he told us already. This is what he would say about faith, “I don’t know if my wife loves me. I’ve been married for 30-something years and I have never known that she actually loves me. She could up and leave tomorrow and say that she never truly loved me. So why do I trust that she won’t do that? Because I have faith that she loves me. But I don’t know. I can never know.” He would continue, “Many of you believe in God. Many of you don’t believe that God exists. But do any of us know if God exists? No. But if God were to appear right here in this room, none of us would believe in God. But we would all know God exists.”
This makes sense if you think about it. No one knows that God exists. However, we have a copious amount of reason to believe that he does. And if God did appear in front of us, we wouldn’t have to believe because we would know. Faith is believing in what we cannot see.
I don’t intend to make this post about God’s existence but I would like to make the following point: Many people don’t believe that God exists because they desire proof. The difficulty here is that no one can prove God exists. Christians don’t have proof that God exists. They wouldn’t be believers if they did. (On the flip side of this, no one can prove that God doesn’t exist.) Faith is what Christianity (and Catholicism to be specific) revolve around. Faith is what we are built on as Christians. Again, if God appeared before us, we would no longer need to believe in God’s existence.
In his letter to the Hebrews, St. Paul references several instances of how faith allowed men and women of the Old Testament to do great things through God. The entire 11th Chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews is known as “The Hall of Faith” as it describes the Biblical definition of faith. That is, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). I would encourage you to read Hebrews 11 on your own, since I will refrain from quoting an entire chapter of the Bible in one blog post. (A link is here: http://usccb.org/bible/hebrews/11).
But faith can be challenging sometimes. Sometimes it can be difficult to take that next step on the journey of faith.
Another thing Mr. Bohne would say is, “In our lives, we’ll come to a place where we need to take a leap of faith.”
A leap of faith is something that many of us are apprehensive about taking. Sometimes this leap of faith includes putting ourselves out there and not worrying what others think of ourselves. Sometimes this leap of faith is joining a sports team or a club. No matter what your leap of faith might be, one thing is in common about all leaps of faith. You must let go of the rope, like Bruce Wayne, and not hold back. There’s no way you can make the leap of faith, if you do not fully trust what’s on the other side.
To give another analogy for faith, imagine diving in the ocean. If you go snorkeling, you can see and enjoy the beautiful reefs, fish, and other creatures. But the deeper you go, the more equipped you must be. A scuba diver needs an oxygen tank and a wetsuit in order to survive in the deeper waters. This is because the deeper you dive into the ocean the more difficult it becomes to be a diver.
As a Christian, you can go snorkeling in your faith. Everything can seem nice and beautiful on the surface. You don’t need too much equipment. But Christianity isn’t about always nice and beautiful. In fact, the face of Christianity sweated blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. That’s not particularly nice or beautiful. Christianity isn’t about emotions and feelings. Christianity is about dragging your cross up the hill to Calvary. Christianity is about having faith through the waves of doubt.
However, if you dive deeper into your faith, you need to be more equipped. How can you become more equipped? Prayer, fasting, service, saying the rosary, going to Mass, reading Scripture, and loving others to name a few. Similarly, when you dive deeper into your faith, you become more and more challenged. It becomes more difficult – even if you have equipped yourself. Just as a diver becomes more compressed the deeper he ventures into the ocean, so too do we become more challenged the deeper we venture into our faith. But the benefit to diving deeper into our faith is that we learn more about ourselves and God.
As we take these leaps of faith and as we dive deeper into our own faith, we come across many difficulties. Maybe others don’t accept us for being ourselves. Maybe we don’t find our place in that sports team or club. However, we must have faith in the God we believe in and trust that he will be waiting on the other side of the canyon.
Challenge of the Week(end): Spend 10 minutes of quiet time. Preferably, do so outside of your home. Go to a chapel or a church, sit on a bench, or go for a stroll. Also, read and reflect on Hebrews chapter 11. Explore the depths of your faith.
St. James, ora pro nobis.
St. Francis of Assisi, ora pro nobis.
St. Margaret Clitherow, ora pro nobis.
Bl. William Joseph Chaminade, ora pro nobis.
Chawkins.
Song:
"The Creed" by Hillsong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuDI-sk2nJU