What is the size of your faith?

This is a story best read out load in your best pirate voice. It is a tale of two pirates discussing faith. They are Christian pirates so they have names that don’t really drive fear into anyone, which makes being a pirate quite hard.  Anyway, I digress, what we have here in the opening of the tale is two pirates in a pub, one who is named Pirate Dave is sat with his head in his hands the other called Pirate Steve (I warned you about the names) is walking up to him right about now…

“Ahoy there me hearty” says Pirate Steve greeting his friend with a big beardy smile.

Pirate Dave, as already has been mentioned has his head in hands – he is sad.  All he can muster is a rather feeble ”Ah haarrrggghhh”.

“Shiver me timbers matey, what be your problem?” Asks Pirate Steve in a concerned way. Him and Dave have been shipmates for years, swashing and buckling and drinking rum across the seven seas.

Pirate Dave shakes his head but doesn’t look up “I can’t do it. I just can’t do it. Whoa is me. Ah haaarrrrrgggghhhhh. Ah haaarrrgggghhh”

“Can’t do what? I know you’re doing a good job swashing and buckling and drinking rum everywhere we go.”

Pirate Dave just ignores him and puts his head back in hands “Oh arrrggghh. I just can’t do it”

“OK, I’m sorry me old shipmate” Steve sits down and tries again “What can’t you do?”

“I can’t do what I believe I need to do?” says Dave desperately.

It’s obvious to Pirate Steve that Pirate Dave doesn’t want to confess what it is he can’t do and decides to try a different tack, to use a nautical term.

“Alrioight then Dave, why can you not do what you believe you needs to do?”

“Me problem be, that I just don’t be havin the faith” Dave says looking up at Steve at last.

“Well, tell me this then you old land lubber” A little insult from Steve often helps to get Pirate Dave blabbing “Exactly how much faith do you be havin?”

“Not enough faith do I be havin” Says Dave grumpily.

“But you do be havin some faith?” replies Pirate Steve

“Obviously I do be havin some faith. I believe in God.” Says Pirate Dave matter of factly.

“So you do be havin some faith, but you’ve not be havin enough faith for what you’ve got to do, which requires more faith then the faith you be havin roight now?” Steve responds trying to tie Dave down a bit, not literally of course.

Pirate Dave smiles a little “Yarrggh. Exactly. You be starting to understand I”

“So then me old how sea dog, how much faith have ee got?” asks Pirate Steve.

“I’ve told ee. Not enough!”

“Do ee be havin this much faith?” Pirate Steve asks and spreads arms as wide as possible to show how much faith he could have.

“Avast! No, obviously not that much.” Pirate Dave was aghast and so he said avast.

Pirate Steve tries again “How about this much?” His arms are not so wide this time.

“Yo ho ho me swashbucklin scallywag” chuckles Pirate Dave “You make I laff, ha harrgghh. No. No, I don’t have that much.”

Pirate Steve tries again “Ow about this much?” His hands are about a foot wide now.

“Noooo, Far too big that be” responds Pirate Dave.

“This much?” Steve’s uses one hand with thumb and forefinger as wide apart as possible.

“No” Pirate Dave quickly replies.

“This much?” Pirate Steve’s thumb and forefinger are closer, and from now on each time PirateSteve asks the question they get closer together, the fingers not the Pirates.

“No” Replies Pirate Dave getting tetchy.

“This much?”

“Nope”

“This much?”

“NO” he says louder.

“This much?”

“NO” louder.”

“THIS MUCH?”

“NO” Pirate Dave is shouting now.

Pirate Steve pauses and then quietly asks “This much?” His thumb and forefinger are the closest together they can actually be without touching.

Pirate Dave stops and looks “That be really small?” He stops and looks again, and then he says again “That be really small. That be the size of me faith. Really small”

Pirate Steve smiles. He has got him as he says “Yarh it be really small. It be about the size of a mustard seed.” Pirate Steve walks off with the smuggest smile a beardy Pirate can wear.

Pirate Dave sits and looks into space, then he smiles and says to himself “Yarh…That should just about be doin it then.”

Pirate Dave smiled and said this because he knew his Bible…

Jesus said “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”