A Leap of Faith



This is dedicated to Glen


I stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down. The clouds obscured the bottom and I couldn't see what lay in store should I choose to jump. I had heard that the fall was quite pleasant really and had known others that had taken the leap off of the cliff we call faith but I had yet to take my turn. If only I could see what awaits me at the bottom, then I could know and not fear it as much. I wanted to know, and thus be reassured.

Here I stood, I had seen proof that others had survived, even enjoyed the experience, and I had heard their stories. They counselled me now on how to jump, how to go about the fall so that I would have the best chances. Had people not survived it? Yes, I knew this to be true as well. Every leap has it's risk. Was the rush or the rewards awaiting me at the bottom worth the risk I asked myself?

I stood there for some time, gazing down the steep decline, hoping that the fog would clear and I would be able to glimpse for myself the bottom but I knew deep inside they would not clear. It was part of the charm of the drop I've heard but I didn't really understand it.

Finally I decided, I was tired of standing on the edge while others I had known had gone ahead. It was time for me to make my move, for good or for bad, stagnation was my enemy as well as my fear. I inched my foot off the edge, feeling the earth crumble a but under the heel of my foot...then I was falling.

Was it falling or flying? The air rushed about me and I felt alive, more alive than I had ever felt before. I was still scared...I still had no idea what lay at the bottom and if I would survive it. In a moment of panic I looked back at the cliff face, searching for something to grab on to all the while knowing that to attempt it would be sheer folly. It was too late to stop this, and even though I still had fear I don't think I would have stopped it even if I could have. The exilaration and sheer joy of the weightlessness was overpowering. I felt young and almost giddy, perhaps madness had taken me. I felt the vapor of the fog as I fell through it, unable to see anything around me I dared to close my eyes, almost willing myself to shut out the images of the possible end. There I hung, weightless and free feeling the air cradle and pull at me and I felt a serene calm wash over me. This is why people took the leap, I thought to myself.

When I opened my eyes again I was on the ground, laying on my back. The soft grass underneath me and I was safe. I looked up as the clouds rolled by me and I could see the top of the cliff where I had taken my leap. It's rather funny but the jump looked alot more high and scary from up there...and yet it looked like a mear hop from the bottom. I laughed then...a deep laugh, knowing how silly I had been to make such a thing like a leap of faith feel like a fall to my death when in fact it made me feel twice as alive as I had before I took the jump.