Faith is one foot on the ground, one foot in the air, and a queasy feeling in the stomach.
Interpretation
Faith involves a balance between certainty and uncertainty, often leaving us with mixed emotions.
This quote by Mother Angelica highlights the complex nature of faith, describing it as a state where one is grounded yet also suspended in possibility. It suggests that having faith requires embracing both the tangible reality of the present and the intangible hopes of the future, often leading to a mix of confidence and apprehension.
In practice
In a motivational speech about pursuing dreams despite challenges, one might say, 'As Mother Angelica reminds us, faith is one foot on the ground, one foot in the air.'
I am not like a pebble on the beach - a grain of sand on the seashore or just one of millions of human beings past, present and future. No, I am a unique human being loved by God as if I were an only child - the only fruit of his creative powers.
I must not permit the evil capabilities of human nature to sour my faith in the tremendous good that is possible despite the frailty of that nature.
The sinner who suddenly realizes God's love for him and then looks at his rejection of that love feels a loss similar to the death of a loved one. A deep void is created in the soul and a loneliness akin to the agony of death.
Our memories are our own, and we cannot blame anything or anyone in the past for any pain dwelling there. If we open the door to them or keep hashing over past incidents in our minds, we have only ourselves to blame.
Man can and does rationalize his sins. He finds reasons for all his weakness, invents excuses that first calm and then deaden his conscience. He blames God, society, education, and environment for his wrong doing.
Love has been defined, analyzed, explained and excused. It has been the cause of wars, feuds, heroism, martyrdom, inordinate passion, and beautiful friendships. It pulls two people of opposite temperaments together into a married state and permits them to live happily. It makes friends understand each other without the necessity of words.
You don't have to get a job that makes others feel comfortable about what they perceive as your success. You don't have to explain what your plan to do with your life. You don't have to justify your education by demonstrating its financial rewards. You don't have to maintain an impeccable credit score. Anyone who expects you to do any of those things has no sense of history of economics or science or the arts.
Increasingly, people seem to misinterpret complexity as sophistication, which is baffling -- the incomprehensible should cause suspicion rather than admiration.
We don’t know what to do with our own pain, so what to do with the pain of others? We don’t know what to do with our own weakness except hide it or pretend it doesn’t exist. So how can we welcome fully the weakness of another if we haven’t welcomed our own weakness?
The cutting of the gem has to be finished before you can see whether it shines.
What I have learned from my work up to now, is to try to be open, but also protect myself by not letting the good and the evil get too much importance.
Indeed, I am very sorry to be right in this instance. I would much rather have been merry than wise.
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