Faith That Climbs the Ladder

God told two people to hold a contest
to see which of them could come to God first.
One decided to climb high on a ladder to seek God,
and the other decided to seek God by driving a car.
The one who chose the ladder climbed a ladder set up toward the sky,
one rung and then another rung,
watching the car race swiftly across the wide land,
envying it without end and resenting their own hard climb.
The one who had thought that by driving a car
they would soon meet God saw only land, however far they drove,
and began to be afraid.
To overcome that fear, they drove even faster.
The one who climbed slowly, afraid of falling,
looking at the drops of sweat running down their brow,
blames their own weakness.
‘If I rode in a car like that one, I would get there so much more easily’
How long did it go on, one running fast and one climbing in fear?
The one who did nothing but run without end met the sea at the ends of the earth,
but God was nowhere to be found.
The one who climbed and climbed the ladder came to meet the God
who had been waiting for them.
Welcoming them gladly, he said,
“However far you run with your eyes on the things of the earth,
in the end what you meet is the earth.
But the ladder of faith, though it is hard to climb
and takes a long time, never has a way down;
that is why you have come to meet me like this.
You have been faithful over a few things;
now enjoy the rest I have prepared.”
– To the world riding in its car, faith may look foolish,
but the wisdom of believers is to realize that God is not in the wide world
and to climb the ladder that is Christ.