He stopped his pickup in front of the house. It was a beautiful spring day. We, my wife and I, were working in the flower beds at the front of the house. He was a “colorful” character. We had known him for a while, and he was a part of the church with us. I had gone fishing with him and visited his farm many times. Anyway, he opened the passenger side door. Then he called to me, “Get in and go with me.”  I asked, “Where are we going?”  He answered, “Just get in.”  We each repeated our statements. So, I asked, “When will we get back?”  He said, “Just get in.”  I said, “I need to tell my wife when I will be back.”  He then said, “Never mind.”  He pulled the door to the truck closed and left. I stood and wondered if I had made a mistake.  I still do not know. Maybe I should have taken the leap.

Several years earlier, when I was about fifteen, four of us (guys that is) went from Tulsa to Gans, Oklahoma. On the way, we stopped at Lake Tenkiller. We stopped at the overlook, just west of the dam. We parked the car and then walked toward the safety fence that guarded the high sheer bluffs. Crossing over the fence, we followed some paths to the rock ledges overlooking the lake and just north of the dam area. The oldest guy among us called on the rest of us to follow his lead. He readied himself, leaped, and made a magnificent swan dive to the water far below. The others of us watched his flight into the water and saw him return to the surface. He waved to us as a challenge to get us to join him. Not one of us had ever made such a daring leap. At the same time no one wanted to appear to be a “chicken.” To make this short story long, we finally followed him. Only one of us dove headfirst. The other two of us cautiously dropped with our feet reaching the water first. Even falling feet first, it was a bit scary. No doubt, none of us would have leapt from the cliff without the one who challenged us to leap. After more than fifty years, there is still the memory of that challenging leap.  It was a small event, but it still registers. Any leap of faith carries risks and can incite some fear. Still, when they are taken, when paralysis is overcome, when fear inciting voices are quelled, those leaps often prove to be the milestones of a more successful life.

Every leap requires some level of faith; no matter what purpose it fulfills. Often, a leap of faith is associated with spiritual matters, especially associated with God. Yet, honesty and experience show that such faith is required in every aspect of life. The future always holds an extremely limited view of the yet unknown. Most of the time faith is the substance on which action “hang its hat”.  As a description, Soren Kierkegaard describes a passionate commitment to belief or action that transcends human reason, logic, and empirical evidence as a “leap of faith.”  On the other hand, Francis Schaeffer referred to such action as a “step” of faith. No matter what definition is assigned, faith is at the heart of any venture not yet tried. 

An easily overlooked line strove to scream from the page of a recent book.  It was not new, or even original line. Still, it is proverbial and prophetic at the same time. The writer repeated the often-heard line: “As you look back on life it will not be the things that you have done that will bring the most regret. It will be the things that you could have done but didn’t.”

Few of the “leaps of faith” that we take will be as physically risky as a leap from a high bluff into unknown waters.  Even so, those that we might consider small steps may be as important as any. When he took that pioneering step onto the surface of the moon, Neil Armstrong is noted for his statement: “One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”  Few would think of stepping from the lunar module onto the moon’s surface as a small step. It was only small in comparison to all the complex efforts involved in building, launching, and guiding a spaceship from the earth to land on the moon.  Every step along the way was something of a leap of faith.

What steps will be taken today? What will be seen as a challenge or a risk? Whatever those steps or leaps may be, whether large or small, here is to hope that we readily seek the good that may come as we take them. So, maybe we need to hear a few words from Lee Ann Womack’s popular song: “I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean. Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens. Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance. And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance; I hope you dance.”  When the challenge of faith calls, take the leap.

Russell L. Dyer

January 17, 2026