Walking By Faith

Where do we go, nobody knows. We go wherever the wind blows.
~Faith – the spirited Adventurer ~

Faith hoisted the large, heavy backpack higher up on her shoulders, placing it in a more comfortable position on her back. She gripped the backpack’s dark straps firmly; they came across the front of her mud stained blouse, the blouse no longer a sunny yellow in colour but fading into a shade of yellow and brown. Her large straw hat hid her from the scorching heat, and the flow of long, light brown hair coming from it covered her ears, framing her demure face and reaching her shoulders. She looked ahead, her clear hazel eyes sparkling with excitement as she gazed across the empty, ridged landscape of the desert; there was a large tower ahead. It stood erect, rising from a sand dune that covered the bottom quarter of the immense structure. There was an eagerness within her. It seemed to bubble right through her as a large grin spread across her face and she began to rise up to her toes and drop back down to her heels in an energetic rhythm. She glanced down at her partner and snorted softly.Unlike her, young Aaron sat crossed legged on the coarse ground; despondent. His short golden brown hair lay matted to his head from sweat. The heat had taken every ounce of his energy, regardless of the short swim he had taken, at the oasis Faith had managed to direct them to. The mud had helped cool them off too but the prospect of traversing the sandy terrain with mud baking on their skin did not appeal to him at all, even if that would have cooled him down. He gazed up at the tower in the distance, shielding his light brown eyes from the sun so he could look at it without going blind. He sighed dejectedly; that was the last thing he wanted to do.

The travelers, completely unrelated, had been making their way across the desert for a week and a half now, each with their own personal goal. Faith sought adventure, yes, she lived with almost eccentric motivation that had led her to many different parts of the world. Yet this journey had become spiritual more than adventurous as she trekked through aesthetic landscapes varying from mountains and valleys to forests and jungles. Each region she traversed filled her with awe and wonder, a deep longing as well as a desire to know not only about its creation but also about its creator. Aaron on the other hand was an orphan, abandoned as a young boy by his parents claiming they were not ready for a child; he was pulling them down. He’d met his parents again later on and they had rejected him again. In his sadness and anger at his parents and a deeper bitterness for his unfair life, he lost all will and purpose to live. At the apex of the apartment building where his orphanage was located, he’d found himself on the edge of the building and gazing glazed eyed at the inevitable below him. Had Faith not appeared at that moment, Aaron would not have been alive this day. He found a new desire at that moment, a desire to figure out his purpose and know more about this ultimate Being that Faith spoke of so reverently yet so mysteriously about. Who indeed was the creator of those marvelous places Faith had traveled to? Where was He now? What purpose did He have for him? This journey had to have answers, just had to.

“Come now, enough rest let’s go!” Faith exclaimed as she grabbed the younger boy’s arms and pulled him up to his feet. Aaron grunted his disapproval but let himself be pulled up to his feet.
“Are we seriously going to climb that?” Aaron asked, unable and unwilling to alter his despondent tone of voice.

“Of course! This tower will challenge you beyond anything you have ever faced!” Faith exclaimed, falling back into her excited rocking, “In fact, there is a historical record of a young man, a little older than me, who not only climbed the tower but leapt from its top!” Aaron had a moment to remember his once strong desire to jump from his own high tower; so much had changed since then that the idea disturbed him.

“Not only did he jump, but he landed safely on a bale of hay at the bottom…he called it…the Leap of Faith. Exhilarating!” Faith’s face seemed to glow under her straw hat, her lips unable to contain the large grin that filled her face. Aaron, however, was skeptical…and fearful. It was as though Faith had saved him from one jump only to propel him towards another only this time…he was not looking forward to it. Not at all.

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I hope you enjoyed the little excerpt from one of my short stories called Walking by Faith, playing around with that theme of walking by faith by having a character named Faith. The basis of this story is the idea of self discovery and also how God reveals himself in nature. Within the course of the story itself you will see that outworking of revelation through the eyes of energetic, optimistic Faith and the skeptical, despairing Aaron.

As always, please feel free to leave a comment, message etc. Thank you for taking the time to read and visit my blog. May you have a blessed week!

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Wages of Sin…

He leaned with his back against the wet bricks, watching the dark cloudy sky pour sheets of water down onto the city. The rather dim light above him, as he stood below the seedy canopy, illuminated his long pallid face and sunken cheekbones, the pale skin pulled taut giving him a ghastly skeletal look. He raised his slender hand up, the long, bony index and middle fingers raising half of a smoldering Pall Mall cigarette up to his thin cracked lips. A hissing sound echoed through the alleyway, above the sound of falling rain, as he took a long drag of the cigarette. With a loud sigh, he exhaled plumes of smoke up into the air. He ran his free hand through his dark, wiry hair as he dropped his cigarette. With a thump, he trampled it into the wet ground, the heel of his black boot swiveling from side to side. With one last glance up at the dark sky, he smiled a toothy grin, revealing perfectly straight yet yellowing teeth. He pushed open the door and stepped into the warm interior.

There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Prisoners in misery and chains, Because they had rebelled against the words of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore He humbled their heart with labor
They stumbled and there was none to help

Bright fluorescent lights lit up the narrow corridor that he had stepped into; the air smelt sterile, like a hospital. He walked through the corridor, walking past closed doors with various golden plaques on their glass panels, bearing names of various departments. He walked through an arch at the end of the corridor and into a large desk area that looked out through a thick glass-like panel. Behind the panel was a string of people waiting in line; old and young, rich and poor, of all races, nationalities, rank and status. They all looked haggard… drained… dying…and yet there was an uneasy eagerness that glistened in their eyes. A solemn silence hung heavy in the air, and underlying that solemness, was that air of anxiety from the people. They watched him pull a chair out from under the desk, sit down, then arrange the small note pad and pen that lay atop the otherwise bare desk. With his head down, a buzz began to emanate from behind the glass panel, low mumbling that began to rise until the whole building reverberated with echoes of cries and pleas from the multitude of people. He lifted his head up towards the people and with a toothy grin raised his arms wide, up above his head, the long fingers on his hands spread apart. Waving his hands back and forth, he gestured them to be silent. The mutterings died down until there was complete silence. With his arms still spread, he lowered them to shoulder height, turning his hands sideways into a gesture of welcome. With a clear smooth voice he spoke,

“Thank you for your patience. I know these are trying times for all of you, seeking your desires, regardless of the consequences that you know you will face…” His eyes shifted from face to face, each one dropping their heads as his eyes fell upon them.
“You hide from your spouses, parents, bosses, friends…separate yourselves willingly…and for what!” He chuckled softly, shaking his head slightly, with that grin still stuck on his face. His dark beady eyes swept through the room again, locking eyes with a selection of familiar faces. They looked away from those dark eyes, both from fear and from shame. Those dark eyes were emotionless, the eyes of one who had seen the depths of the human soul and the darkness that lies therein and found that “There is none good, none righteous, no not one”. The eyes that had sifted through the facade of righteousness and delved into the heart and found that “The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”. Indeed he knew what humans were capable of…and knew the price that they had to pay; he knew it well. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a name tag and clipped it across his chest.

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If you were to personify sin, what characteristics and persona would he/she have. Would we want to associate with them? From what we know about sin from the bible…we too would be in line at the Horror Affairs, either willingly or coaxed towards it by our own desires, wants or our pride… in short, ourselves. But sin wouldn’t just sit all day in the office, waiting for the willing to show up…oh no, sin would also invade houses and homes, stalking its occupants, waiting for moments of weakness, failure or even joy and excitement, for we don’t always sin on bad days do we? Oh but for those who have confronted sin, looked into the mirror and saw sin in themselves and turned towards the Saviour, for them there is hope. For them there is an alarm that goes off at the sign of the intruder and an armed response sends the intruder fleeing from the scene of the crime or a would be scene.

The truth is, as one of my favourite verses says: Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Are you paying the wages of sin or are you turning to the Saviour who pays and has paid the debt you owe?