Leaps Of Faith

On the flight from Sydney to Adelaide, Bunny sits next to Arthur, and Mrs Hume sits next to Pastor Moon.

Pastor Moon is first to break the silence.

Mrs Hume.... begins Pastor Moon.

Please don't start, says Mrs Hume. I know you are a pastor. There is nothing that I wish to hear from you.

I say! says Pastor Moon. Surely we may have a civil conversation!

I don't think so, says Mrs Hume. I cannot imagine you have the capacity to be rational.

As to that, says Pastor Moon, it is my belief that rationality is not the be all and the end all.

Oh really, says Mrs Hume. Then do be quiet and let me read the in-flight magazine.

But it is not so easy to shut a pastor down.

Mrs Hume, says Pastor Moon, I put it to you that even rationality requires a leap of faith.

In what way exactly? says Mrs Hume, rising to the bait.

Aha! says Pastor Moon. What is it but a leap of faith to believe in the truth of logic statements, for example?

Pastor Moon, says Mrs Hume, I hope you are truly happy with that question. Now, would you like a mint?

She offers him a giant spherical mint, of the sort she keeps especially for the clergy.

Arthur and Bunny are sitting in the seats behind, not listening to the olds.

Bunny has got her present out, and is showing it to Arthur.

She is able to do this because like most young people she has not wrapped it up, but is carrying it in a decorative paper bag with twisted paper handles.

I got him the Boxing Frog, says Bunny. What d'you think?

I think he'll like the Boxing Frog, says Arthur. And I'll tell you why.

Why? asks Bunny.

He often talks about a character called Frog, says Arthur. Frog was in a blog he used to read. Frog was very unlucky, because he was a tomato, but he was best friends with a stone. He gradually shriveled up while his friend stayed young forever. But he was very plucky till the end, and he had an excellent moral compass. Sweezus says when he's confronted with a dilemma he always asks himself what Frog would do.

What a lovely story, says Bunny. So in the end Frog shriveled up and died?

Not exactly, says Arthur. As far as I remember he was dropped on by a lobster. Ageless Lobster, another friend of mine.

Oh, says Bunny, not quite following.

But she is glad she chose to buy the Boxing Frog.