What does it mean to believe?
Online dictionaries give the following definitions:
1. To accept as true or real
2. To expect or suppose
3. To have confidence in the reliability of something
However, my favorite definition is the one I found in the sign language dictionary:
Believe = Think + Act
In sign language, the word “believe” consists of two gestures, the gesture for “thinking” followed by the gesture for “acting.” I find this definition really appropriate, because it summarizes the essence of what it is to believe…you think a certain way about something or someone, and then you act based on that thought…a good illustration for this fact is the story of the Heeney family and little Falcon.
These last couple of weeks, there were several reports in the news that told the story about a little boy named Falcon.
Falcon is six years old; he lives in Colorado with his parents and two brothers…sounds pretty normal so far … but the story is full of twists.
It turns out that Falcon and his dad and brothers like to build things for fun….the latest project was a hot-air balloon which they were getting ready to finish two or three weeks ago.
One day the dad and two of the kids, Falcon and his older brother were working on the balloon in the garden … the dad left for a minute and the balloon somehow started flying.
The original story that the Heeney’s told the authorities was that when Mr. Heeney (Falcon’s dad) came back to the yard, he noticed that the balloon was gone, and so was Falcon. He asked the older son, “where is your brother?” and the boy answered him,“I don’t know … I think I saw him get inside the box of the hot air balloon.”
The family called 911 and they called the news channel in order to ask for help to bring the boy back down from the air safe and sound …
Soon the news started reporting about the balloon and everyone in the United States started following the developments of this situation …
The reporters and the people in general where worried about the boys safety, whether the balloon could crash with another flying object, whether the air up was too cold and the boy would freeze or get too cold, and of course, if the boy would fall from inside the hot air balloon …
The authorities closed down the airport, launched two military helicopters and countless policemen to try to bring the boy to safety.
