Leap of Faith

"Living long enough, we each find ourselves surrounded by an old way of being, thinking or loving that is going up in flames.  But this is the passage of rebirth that we must move through if our lives are to unfold." Mark Nepo

"Living long enough" is such a lovely way to express our years in life, and living long enough does bring each of us to a place where we feel constricted by our current circumstances.  Or, we are in relationship with someone or some place of employment that moves on without us.  Rejection, betrayal, stifling circumstances:  all create an opportunity for us to take a leap of faith.  Nepo describes it like jumping from a flaming boat into the sea.  I have seen it like standing on a cliff over an abyss and stepping into the abyss in faith.  Either analogy works.  The important thing is to remember that we are being asked to step or leap in faith --- faith that goodness will result in response to our courage.  The first time I remember leaping in faith was when my parents dropped me off for college.  I stood on the sidewalk, after they had helped me move into the dorm, crying as I watched my old life drive away from me.  Then, as life went on, I experience love rejected, jobs that were ill suited, and most recently - living with someone with progressive dementia.  Day by day the person with dementia is leaving us behind as the disease claims more and more of him/her.  In every case when circumstances stifle us or others abandon us, our option is to stay stuck or to take a leap of faith.  The leaps of faith I have chosen have never disappointed me.