I sat alone. The Ferris Wheel had just made one trip around.
At the bottom, an attendant stopped my car and explained they had another passenger. I wanted
to be alone. I looked off to my left and stared into the cog wheel where all the steel arms were attached. He climbed on board in a way that made my gut
move. I couldn't quite get a handle on what I was feeling. I scoped him out
through the corner of my eye. This dude simply exuded expectation. I had none.
He smiled and said: "It's good to see ya!" I nodded weakly as the cab
jerked into motion.
My tears rolled down
as we climbed skyward. With a sweeping motion of his hand, he pointed and said:
"Can you believe how much we can see from up here!" He saw my tears
and smiled wider, if that was even possible. "What's up dude? You don't
feel my joy, do you?' He said. I moaned, strained by the effort to talk and
said I was hurtin'. I pushed one more word through my lips as if it were the
greatest struggle I had ever known; "Death," I murmured. It was the only word I could muster.
His smile got wider; this dude had a grin that just kept
growing. My thoughts got darker; "How the heck can this dude keep smiling
in the midst of my pain?" We had just rounded the pinnacle of the Ferris wheels'
height, and I lost it. I swung my head from side to side and almost screamed:
"What's the matter with you? Can't you feel or see my pain?"
He leaned into my personal space and whispered in a way that
caused an echo inside me. He said one word: "Faith." I told him I didn't want a lesson on faith, and "please don't start throwing Bible verses at me. I don't need faith, I need answers! Why do good people die from
disease? Why do their families suffer when they are good people? Why doesn't
God heal the good people? Why doesn't God answer the prayers of good people?"
The smily faced dude began to speak. His manner of speaking
was like; I can only describe as one word sentences. Each word that he spoke
seemed to be like a wave of atmospheric pressure. The kind of pressure you feel
in your bones when the weather is changing. These were his words:
"Faith." "Fear." "Wait." Stand."
"Pass." "Love." He
paused for a moment as he looked out over the city while our car began to
descend once again. It would be our final descent together. He was downright exuberant as he practically
shouted: "Can you believe how much we can see from up here?"
The Ferris wheel came to a halt and the attendant opened the
car door. My ride companion stepped out first, and turned to wait as I
disembarked. The man smiled, looked deep into my eyes and said: "Take your
faith higher everyday and you will see more." Then he hugged me. The hug
wasn't weird or anything. It was a soulful hug, the kind that touches your
heart. In the midst of the hug, I saw a picture flash across my mind. It was a
fishing picture. My Dad and I were fishing in a boat and we were releasing the
fish that we caught. We were practicing a fishing technique called: "catch
and release." The man released me from his hug. He was smiling
still as he turned and disappeared into the throng of departing passengers.
I stood for a moment, feeling a slight breeze. My face was
sticky with dried tears. I forced myself to move, jerking into motion like a
Ferris wheel car. Surrounded by a crowd of people, I was alone in my thoughts.
Who was the man? What should I glean from our conversation? The word faith took
center stage in the movie playing in my mind. Some things are never strong
enough. Some things are meant to keep growing. Faith believes that all things
will eventually be part of a big picture that makes sense. Faith knows that all
things work together for good. Faith is not afraid of bad news. Faith has
confidence. Faith has trust. Faith knows that tears are temporary; joy comes
after the mourning. Faith will wait in the fire. Faith will stand in the storm.
Faith will pass on temptation. Faith will love the lost. Faith will celebrate
the hope of impossible dreams.
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.
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