Order me to come to you across the water. . .

"Faith is daring the soul to go beyond what the eye refuses to see." ~J.R.R Tolkien

Today at our weekly school mass the Gospel was the story about Peter and his request to Jesus, "Order me to come to you across the water". And then Peter did. He walked on water until the wind blew a channel of doubt through him and he began to sink. "Help me Lord!" was his cry. And the Lord helped him but He also asked Peter, "Why do you lack faith?" Does this resound in you like it does in me?

Read the quote again at the beginning of this entry. Tolkien knew how to walk on water and not sink. He understood the kind of faith it is that allows you to be open to whatever miracles the Holy Spirit sends your way and not to doubt.

Tolkien knew how to see across the water and not to doubt; not to give up hope and not to despair. He knew that things happen in life that may be hard to understand and that only with the eyes of our heart can we grasp the gifts that our God and the Holy Spirit can give to us. I am sure that in his own way he learned to 'walk on water' and cross over perhaps to the Undying Lands where we all dream of going one day.