Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: FAITH (strong, confident belief in God) (02/26/15)
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TITLE: Faith Restored | Previous Challenge Entry
By Melinda Melton
03/05/15 -
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Why won’t you speak to me? Silence.
Where are you? Silence.
Why won’t you help me? Silence.
I’m not exactly sure when I lost it. A little bit here, a little bit there. It started with trying to hear his voice then I started to question his existence. But it’s gone and try as I might, I can’t find it. I’ve lost Faith.
I’ve tried going to church but as I sit in that hard wooden pew, I feel nothing. Feeling empty, I just go through the motions. Saying what I’m supposed to say. Singing the songs I’m told to sing. I bow my head and say amen. Amen to what? I don’t know.
I’ve tried listening for his voice but day after day, Sunday after Sunday, all I hear is silence. So, I give up.
Pasting a smile on my face I walk out of the church, shake the preacher’s hand, turn right and walk to the park. Listening to the birds sing as I walk, I wonder what they are so happy about. I happen to look up and see a nest on the low branch of a nearby tree. The mother bird is feeding her chicks. The little chicks are so dependent on their mother to find them food, I thought.
Walking through the big limestone pillars, I enter the park and sit down on the bench to watch the children play. I watch the mothers push their babes in the swings. Gleeful laughs fill the air. Wistfully, I listen to their joy. So trusting those little babes are. They don't hope their mother will catch them, they know their mother will catch them and push them gently back and forth.
Just a few yards away lies a beautiful little flower garden. New sprigs are pushing their way above the soil. Older, established plants are bursting with color. Butterflies are flitting from flower to flower. It’s as if they don’t hope there is a sweet nectar, they know that one of those flowers in the garden will provide what it needs.
I stand up and walk slowly down the path. Taking everything in, I breathe deeply and exhale. How refreshing the clean air is. Hearing sounds of the children playing and little dogs barking somewhere in the neighborhood puts a smile on my face. There is life all around me. Why haven’t I noticed it before?
Suddenly I hear someone whistling a familiar tune. Amazing Grace, how sweet thy sound, that saved a wretch like me. But wait, what in the world is that smell? It’s not clean. Looking over towards the tree, I see a homeless man leaning up against the trunk. I walk over to give him a few dollars. It’s all I have. I lean over to give him the money and he looks at me with the most beautiful crystal blue eyes I’ve ever seen. They seem to look directly into my soul and they were full of love, compassion and sorrow. Something in me cracked and shattered. Smiling, he reached up and caught the tear running down my cheek.
A gentle breeze rustled the tree leaves overhead. “Do you hear that?” he asked.
“Hear what?” I replied, still mesmerized by his piercing blue eyes.
“He’s talking to us” he says gently.
“Who is talking to us?”
“God. Listen to the still small voice in the breeze. The birds chirping. The children laughing. Even the butterflies on that bush over there. He is all around us. We just have to believe, have faith and know he is there.”
I close my eyes and for the first time in a long time, my mind is quiet and I listen. The beautiful sounds of life all around me gives me hope. My heart feels light and that heavy cloak is lifted. I open my eyes to start to thank the man, but he’s gone. Looking around, I don’t see him anywhere. He just vanished!
Was I just visited by an angel or Jesus himself? I’m not sure, but whatever the encounter was, he helped to restore my faith. God was there all along. He’s all around me.
With more confidence than I have felt in ages, I walk briskly back towards the church. If I’m lucky, I’ll get there in time to help in the soup kitchen.
Copyright 2015
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Powerfully written this introspective piece filled with authentic tones of pondering one's faith.
Excellent work.
God bless~
A small touch of red ink relates to the conversation with the homeless man, when you mix past and present tenses together. Don't worry though, it's not a capital offence...
God bless~