May 4th, 2021: Life Suspension


 

The longest pedestrian suspended bridge in the world has just opened to the public in Portugal. It looks very intriguing, and I would love to have a chance to walk 1700 ft across and 574 ft above a river. It is not for those who don't like height. So when I get my opportunity, I will have to do it without my wife. Those who walked across on the first day of its opening said: "Look ahead and don't look down."


Living our life is like walking over a suspended bridge in some ways. We know that we need to keep moving forward regardless of our feeling of not having a stable footing.


We live with a suspension between what is certain and what is not. We need to have faith in God while knowing about our lack of it. We become reluctant to take the crucial steps to discover what God has in plan ahead. We are giving in to the temptation of walking our own walk and giving up walking with God.


We live with a suspension between our hope and our fear. Many of us have experienced our suspended bridge while going through Covid-19. We are dealing with hope and fear at the same time. We hope for life to be back to normal while being afraid that somehow we are manipulated by some powerful forces out there.


We live with a suspension between knowing and not knowing. More than ever before, some of us feel as if we cannot trust scientists, medical professionals, and politicians. We want to look forward but ending up looking down. We discover our sense of helplessness. We don't want to stop and yet find it hard to take the next step. We are overwhelmed by fear.


God wants us to go forward with Him by faith. Other forces might try to shake us up once in a while, but God will guide our paths. When we stop moving because of the instability of life, we are giving into the control of the manipulator.


Matthews 13: 1-9

"That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear."

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