Remember How To Walk On Water?

Last night I finished off the last chapters of Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water, a beautiful collection of her thoughts on art and faith, and what it means to be a Christian Artist. This was the second time I have read this book. The first time was several years ago before I would have ever thought to call myself an artist. But reading these reflections again, this time as someone who is growing more and more to claim the title "artist" as her own, I was so challenged and encouraged to reclaim all the beautiful qualities that God so longs for me to live out. To be fully vulnerable, to believe in the impossible, to have faith beyond what I know, to trust unflinchingly that God is guiding and holding my life safely in His hands.

While there are words too numerous to count that I wish to quote here, I will settle for just one passage.

When Jesus called Peter to come to him across the water, Peter, for one brief, glorious moment, remembered how and strode with ease across the lake. This is how we are meant to be, and then we forget, and we sink.But if we cry out for help (as Peter did) we will be pulled out of the water; we won't drown. And if we listen, we will hear; and if we look, we will see.

The impossible still happens to us, often during the work, sometimes when we are so tired that inadvertently we let down all the barriers we have built up. We lose our adult skepticism and become once again children who can walk down their grandmother’s stairs without touching.

It is my hope that one day I will remember how to walk on water.