By Susanna Bolle
11,000 feet. 120 miles per hour. 60 second free fall. Whoosh!
Early this spring, my friend and I decided to add skydiving to our summer bucket list. I was excited about the adventure … until the thirty-day countdown began. One month before the jump, my nerves started kicking in. While I eagerly awaited checking this off my list, the actual experience made me nervous. I had three fears. The first: death. The second: severe paralysis. The third: hating the sensation of speeding down to earth faster than I’ve ever driven a car.
After seeking the prayers of friends and family members, I woke up the day of the jump and saw an e-mail from my dad. He sent me Psalm 91:11: “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” My first thought was “Great, this means I won’t crash into a rock upon landing.”
During the dive, I realized it was a metaphor for our call to radically trust in God, despite our greatest fears. Often in life we encounter situations where we want to skip to the end and “get it over with.” We’re afraid of the journey. In the unknown, trusting in God’s providence can seem too risky … kind of like skydiving.
Skydiving proved to be one of the most exhilarating and breathtaking experiences of my life. It may have been the most literal “leap” of faith that I’ve ever taken, but it was also one of the most rewarding. We may not know what will happen when we surrender and unite our lives to God, but in our abandonment we can be confident that He’ll bring us on a great adventure!
About the Author:
Susanna Bolle is the administrative assistant to Jeff Cavins in the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. She is currently enrolled in the master’s program of divinity at the St. Paul Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
“Exhilarating and breathtaking” certainly describes Freefall so accurately. My experiences were incredibly similar to a mystical experience with God in that it was peaceful and the light made the colors so intense in hue. There is the sense of feeling supported and full of joy.