MARCH 1, 2012
Another “Leap of Faith”
Who is this man? Why, Albert Berry, of course. You know, the one who is credited as being the first to parachute out of an airplane. That was 100 years ago today. They had cameras then. Yes, that’s – Captain Berry, pictured at right.
Turns out I am not the only one who was ever inspired by the wonder that is February 29.
No, Ma, I am not going parachuting today. Don’t worry, I’m way too self preserving for that sort of activity. Heck da Vinci invented the parachute, and there’s no account of him ever trying it!
That brings me to the day after Leap Day theme: Faith vs. Stupidity.
I know, that sounds really heavy. Again, don’t worry, I’m not stupid enough to try and define Faith for you; and I don’t have enough faith to do something as stupid as being the first one to ever jump out of a flying airplane. Heck, 100 years ago, I wouldn’t have even gone up in the airplane!
Since you and I are leaping this year, I just thought it was appropriate to touch on the subject: Faith vs. Stupidity.
It’s really hard to define Faith things though. So, I’ll focus mostly on stupid things. I know that’s a mean word. In fact, in our household, it is The “S” word. Yet, I think stupid is appropriate when in context with faith.
Lots of people think faith in something you can’t see is stupid. Boy do I get that! If I asked a stranger to go deposit $1000 cash for me, and couldn’t see him or her doing it – that would be stupid. If I never even saw the house I was about to purchase for a million dollars, and live in indefinitely – that would be stupid. This sounds mean, but I think it would be stupid if I committed to my future bride without even knowing what she looked like.
Lots of people think faith in people is stupid. I agree. I would never trust a drug dealer to invest my money. Shoot, I wouldn’t even trust a music major to do that. I would never trust a gossip with discretion. Am I judging who is and who isn’t a gossip? Yup. If someone is defaming others to you, s/he is defaming you to others. It’s that simple.
Lots of people think faith in themselves is stupid. I know. If I bet the house I could beat Kevin Durant in a one on one game of basketball – that would be stupid. Believing I have the smarts to beat Garry Kasparov in a game of chess – that would be stupid.
I think it is really stupid to believe enough in myself enough to think I can predict how the story of another person’s life will turn out.
Ya, it’s easy to talk about stupid things. Faith things are difficult. 
Maybe that’s because it’s so hard to find faith people. If I could find 10 people who really had faith, I’d go jump out of an airplane.
Peace,
MPower
