Faith is flying

"Mack looked at the little bird, who amazingly was content to just sit there with them. The absurdity of it all gave Mack a chuckle...
'...Love is not the limitation. Love is the flying.'
...As if in response to her declaration, the timer dinged and the little bird took off and flew out the window. Watching the jay in flight took on a whole new level of delight" (103).

"Beginning flights were usually limited to a few inches, due mostly to fear or, more accurately, a dread of falling. Stretching his flights to a foot or two and eventually higher increased his confidence as did his discovery that crashing wasn't painful at all but only a slow-motion bounce. In time, he learned to ascend into the clouds, cover vast distances, and land gently" (118).

The image of learning to fly can be applied to many things, but faith seems to be the most fitting upon reading these passages. Faith is something that has to be learned. It is not something inherent in all people, proven by the fact that there are many different religions on this earth. Faith is scary at first. It is hard to believe in something you can't see or feel or touch, but eventually, most people do take that "leap of faith" and believe completely in their religion. Young describes the beginning flights of Mack's dreams which are small at first, "due mostly to fear or, more accurately, a dread of falling." I think this is true of many people, they are afraid to let themselves be totally encompassed by their religion, God, or their faith because they are afraid they might be let down. They are afraid of what might happen if this being they cannot see does not actually exist. What happens when you put all of your trust into something that doesn't exist? What happens if their trust means nothing but a loss of reason?

Soon, Mack starts to trust his flying more and more and takes higher and higher flights. This happens with faith as well. We dip our feet into the water at first, and soon we are up to our knees. As things happen that support our beliefs, we, in turn, believe more strongly. This is when we are able to take larger flights because we trust more in what we believe. Soon after, we learn that falling isn't a bad thing. Falling teaches us to learn from new experiences. It teaches us when to trust and when to get back up and keep trying. With faith, we also learn that God will help us back up when we do fall. This is the struggle that Mack is going through as he "learns" to fly. He is learning how to have faith in himself and in God.