A huge crowd was watching the famous tightrope walker Charles Blondin cross Niagara Falls one day in 1860.
He crossed it numerous times – a 1,100-foot trip, 160 feet above the raging waters. He not only walked across it, but he also pushed a wheelbarrow across it. One little boy just stared in amazement as he did this. So after completing a crossing, Charles looked at that little boy and said, “Do you believe I could take a person across in the wheelbarrow without falling?” The boy replied, “Yes, sir. I really do.” Then Charles said, “Well then, get in son.”
How often do we turn away from trusting God? How often do we lose our hope in the Lord?
“Trust God and He will help you, make straight your ways and hope in Him.”
In this beautiful reading from Sirach 2:1-18, he instructs us on our duties toward God. Following our baptismal call, we are all being called to serve the Lord. But Sirach warns us that our journey will not be without its trials. In essence, we are being asked to walk a tightrope of our own.
Our tightrope represents the path of our life. As we walk along this path, we encounter various gusts of wind, which represents the constant change that occurs in our life. Perhaps we are being pushed in one direction or another because of all the “things” that are going on in our lives. Commitments of work, family, friends, running from place to place, etc. Anything that constantly shifts our balance on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour, or even minute-to-minute basis…we’ll call it the winds of change.
As we walk along our rope, our eyes can’t help but notice movement all around us. These actions shift our concentration off our destination, or where we are trying to go in our life. Some of these distractions are fear, doubt, adversity, misfortune, humiliation, anger, peer pressure, greed, temptation, and sin.
It is during these distractions when we need to trust God the most. But what do we do instead? We lose hope. We give in to the needs, wants, and desires that society places before us. We lose patience with ourselves and we give up and we give in. We lose our sense of direction. We lose our vision. We lose our balance. We find ourselves falling off our tightrope. As we fall, we cry out, “Lord, I really messed up! I am a sinner, and I am not worthy to be called your servant. Please forgive me!”
As Sirach wrote, “Let us fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men, for equal to his majesty is the mercy that he shows.”
God is our safety net as we walk along our tightrope. If we trust and put our hope in the Lord, we will always be rewarded with the benefits of God’s mercy and lasting joy. God will save us from the raging waters below. He will pick us up, place us back on our path, and point us in the right direction. And if that wasn’t enough, He has forgiven all of our sins in the process. Our God is a compassionate and merciful God. All God asks is that we trust in Him.
There’s still time to start over, to rediscover our path to God, and to begin walking again. There’s a short poem by Kathleen Wheeler that captures what “Beginning Anew” is all about:
He came to my desk with quivering lip;
The lesson was done…
“Have you a new leaf for me, dear Teacher?
I have spoiled this one!”
I took his leaf, all soiled and blotted,
And gave him a new leaf, all unspotted;
Then into his tired heart I smiled:
“Do better now, my child!”
I went to the throne with trembling heart;
The day was done.
“Have you a new day for me, dear Master?
I have spoiled this one!”
He took my day, all soiled and blotted,
And gave me a new one, all unspotted;
Then into my tired heart He smiled:
“Do better now, my child!”
How many days have we spoiled because of our actions, or because of our behavior toward others? How many times have we lost our balance? We can do better if we put our trust in the Lord!
The door is open – we just need to enter and restore our relationship with God. Trust Him and your reward will not be lost. No matter what our past has been, we can begin anew. As Sirach wrote, “Compassionate and merciful is the Lord; he forgives sins, he saves in times of trouble.”
Do you believe that God could take you across the tightrope in a wheelbarrow without you falling? Well then, get in!
Do you have trust issues? Find out here.
