Consider an old rope swing hung from a branch, with a knot at the bottom for footing. Fastened to the tree many years ago, the swing has delighted countless children.
A young boy latches hold of the rope, places his foot on the knot and sails through the air. Resting on a nearby slope, the boy’s parents look on in blissful satisfaction at his joy.
The husband turns to his wife, “how long do you think this rope swing has been here?”
“I don’t know. It was here when I was little,” she replies, “why do you ask?”
He continues, “I’m just wondering how safe that thing is. Don’t you think it’s bound to break?”
“Hmm, I guess it has to break some day, but probably not today.”
“How can you be sure?” he persists.
“Well it’s held up all these years.”
“But it’s so old! Surely it’s must break very soon,” he insists.
The mystery of the old rope swing is that with each day the rope both proves its faithfulness and inches closer its demise. So do we trust in the strength of the old rope swing because it has proven itself so many times, or do we suspect its weakness because it has endured so much?