A Leap of Faith

One of the most iconic and recognizable freerunning maneuvers in the Assassin’s Creed video game series, is the Leap of Faith. Upon activation, the game character jumps fearlessly from the top of a building, arms spread wide like a majestic bird. The descent from the top is slow, accompanied with the sound effect of an eagle. Ezio, or whoever you are playing as, performs a 180-degree flip, then proceeds to casually land, unharmed, onto a stack of hay. In the haystack, the player is safe, undetected by foes. This process is integrated throughout the series, allowing players to experience this over and over again, making it one of the most famous traits of the Assassin’s Creed games.

Why is throwing oneself off of a tower called a leap of faith? To answer that, we must first define faith. Faith is the complete trust or confidence in someone or something. The “Trust Fall” game is introduced to youths to explain the concept of faith. In the game, a person starts by standing on a table or chair, with his arms in front of his chest. Then, he allows himself to fall backwards, into the arms of his teammates. They have the responsibility to catch the player safely, so that he would not hit the ground with his back. Needless to say, this game tests the faith of the player. Falling backwards is a daunting experience: the player feels a brief moment of weightlessness, before regaining the sense of weight as he falls into his teammates. The fear of falling backwards is evidently hard to overcome, hence a massive amount of faith is needed to compensate for the fear. The Assassin’s Creed leap is no different. Taking off from a tower, and landing face-up into a small stack of hay is frankly even more intimidating than falling from a table or chair. The game character’s faith has to be immeasurable, in order to have the bravery to even try this feat; therefore, the iconic move in the game is, no doubt, a leap of faith.

While we can leap infinitely in the world of Assassin’s Creed, we surely cannot find haystacks to jump into in reality. In the world we live in, how can we exercise this symbol of trust? We can first start by trusting in our friends. A true friend will constantly watch your back. He will not allow misfortune to befall on you. He will help you ward enemies, so that you will always be safe. Knowing this, you can place your confidence in him, entrusting your life to him; For Christians, faith can also be exercised through God. By completely trusting Him, He will watch your back at all times, and guide you through tough times. You can fall from any height, and Jesus will catch you safely. “In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.” Psalms 25:1. By putting our trust in Jesus, we can exercise the leap of faith, not just in the gaming world, but also in reality.

Hearts aflame with faith and zeal. The 90th anniversary of the school calls us to have faith. In light of the celebrations, we should take a leap of faith, trusting the Lord to watch over us, and serve God and the school with great passion.