Five o’clock and I’ve been awake for hours, unfortunately, though I remained doggedly in bed with my eyes closed until an hour ago. The dog is not happy. The world is still silent and she would prefer to be sleeping rather than woken by a woman who has no intention of doing the ‘long walk thing’ this morning. Coffee, shower, quick run on the green, then down to one son’s and collect the other on the way through. Hopefully. Weather permitting. Then an hour’s drive to the airfield for what could be a long day.

The uncertainty is uncomfortable. As with so many things all we can do is behave ‘as if’’… in this case as if the skydive is definitely going ahead this morning, in spite of the heavy mist currently obscuring the end of the road. That. Of course, could be local. It may be clear beyond the fields.

Even at this time of morning I can see meaning in that; a reflection of other aspects of life. Behaving ‘as if’ is pretty much all we can ever do in face of uncertainty, either with events or beliefs, because the future always holds that element of doubt regardless of the best laid plans. Things can always change or wander off at unexpected tangents, yet we still move towards them as if we are sure that they will happen and unfold as we have chosen or expected.

There has to be an element of trust in the universe that allows us to do that. There is also our own belief in our own vision of the future… we could not otherwise make plans or move towards future events, positive or negative. In some ways belief may be a self fulfilling prophecy… events occurring because we believed they could and would and behaved as if there were no doubt.

Of course, there is always the uncertainty of outside elements… the things that really are beyond our control that may change the expected course of events and thus our future as it unfolds. We need the flexibility to deal with that; the ability to accept that our personal predictions, imminent or distant, may have been wrong. And if we can keep that open mind that accepts that possibility upfront we will ensure the adaptability to deal with those eventualities as they happen.

‘As if’ covers a lot of ground. The technique of Ignatius Loyola comes to mind… put yourself in the position of prayer and prayer will happen… it is a good maxim for having trust and confidence in the workings of life as well as in ourselves.

So this morning we behave as if the weather is perfect, we are driving to an airfield and two young men are jumping from a plane. If that unfolds differently then at least we get to spend some time together the three of us and the morning is not lost or wasted in spite of the sacrificed sleep.