‘Is there anyone else up there?’

The young mountain climber had almost reached the top when his foot slipped and he found himself hurtling down the abyss. Halfway down his equipment got caught in a rock and he found himself dangling midway.

Love joyfully jumps where reason fears to tread- Fr Paul Chetcuti

He could only cry, “God help me!” A voice answered him from far above, “Don’t be afraid, my son. You are safe in my hands.” Relieved, the climber asked, “Thank you God. What should I do?” The voice replied, “Let go and I will save you.”

It was, of course, too much to ask of the poor lad. “But how can I be sure you will save me if I let go?” he pleaded. “Trust and believe,” replied the voice.

The desperate climber started shouting at the top of his voice, “Is there anybody else up there?”

The challenge of faith is that life is found more in the abyss than on solid ground. We all seek refuge in the safety of a ‘solid’ answer to our deepest questions. We only trust our certainties. We trust knowledge to give us life rather than trust life to lead us to knowledge.

Knowing is resting, whereas living is growing. Knowing is describing, whereas living is creating.

Knowing is perceiving, whereas living is understanding.

Knowing is handling the truth, whereas living is letting truth fashion who we are.

Knowing God is welcoming the unfamiliar. The real enemy of faith is neither doubt, nor reason, nor science, not even knowledge itself.

The real enemy of faith is fear. It locks us up in the limiting parameters of our need for ‘solid’ ground. Emptiness frightens us, just as darkness and mystery terrify us.

We seek refuge in certainty, with the illusion that what we know will protect us from what we do not know. Deep down it is not knowledge we are seeking, but the power that will save us from being lost. Little do we realise that this deprives us of ever reaching our real destiny – infinity, which is the ultimate mystery of life. Faith is the joy and humility of going beyond what we can understand. It is where we gain full life because we let go of all control.

Faith is the ultimate strength of our weakness, the real greatness of our smallness, the real meaning of our ignorance. Faith is creative doubt, fearless fear, serene questioning, courageous hesitancy.

Faith is being so serious about the questions that one renounces to rely on the certainty of the answers. Faith is freedom from the terror of smallness, weakness and loss. Faith is when the abyss and the solid ground become one.

This Infinite Mystery that is absolute and yet unafraid of smallness, weakness and insecurity that we call God. And because it is living this mystery that makes us loving creatures, we can discover the deepest truth – that God is love.

Those who love know it is an abyss as solid as the mightiest mountain. Love is knowing the truth beyond all certainties. Love joyfully jumps where reason fears to tread.

Just after celebrating the birth of our God as a loving and loveable little child, we can continue our journey. Faith is a frail life that unfolds within and around us – just like the newborn child of Bethlehem. Faith is not simply a belief system to be accepted or rejected at will. It is becoming a little loving and loveable child who dwarfs the greatness of the wise, transforming weakness into strength and fear into freedom.

Faith enables the human spirit to soar and embrace the infinite Spirit of Love who is God. There, in the depths of His loving heart, humanity can discover how the fearful abyss was indeed a truer friend than the solid ground. It will stop seeking ‘someone else up there’, and embrace the One who is already ‘down here’ – Emmanuel, God with us.

pchetcuti@gmail.com