August 5, 2008

Fear of Flying

I love to watch birds soaring and diving, especially when there are two who appear to be carried away with the mere pleasure of racing up towards the heavens and tumbling back down over one another and then spreading their wings wide and gliding.

I had the thrill of gliding once. We were towed behind a noisy little single engine plane to just the right soaring height. I sat in the front with a sky wide view through the canopy. The pilot sat behind me. I was unprepared for the sudden loud bang of the tow line being released from the plane and snapping back to the fuselage of our glider. But I was even less prepared for the amazing sense of stillness, an almost palpable peace in the weightlessness. The pilot gently dipped a wing setting us into a lazy spin giving a real bird's eye view of the rolling golden California hills beneath us. He took us through a few more maneuvers expertly riding the air currents feeling the wind lifting our wings. It was amazing! Then he told me the controls were all mine. It turns out I was better at diving than soaring and my 30 minute ride was cut to 15 as I gladly gave up control and relied on the proficiency of my pilot to glide us in safely.

It's amusing to some that my stint as a flight attendant a few years left me afraid to fly. It was a 30,000 foot high ride over a tornado that scared the wits out of me.

I often reference my favorite devotional 'Streams in the Desert'. This day's encouragement is especially poignant for me so I pray it will bless you as well:
"They will soar on wings like eagles." Isaiah 40:31 "There is a fable about the way birds first got their wings. The story goes that initially they were made without them. Then God made the wings, set them down before the wingless birds, and said to them, 'Take up these burdens and carry them'.The birds had sweet voices for singing and lovely voices that glistened in the sunshine but they could not soar in the air. When asked tot take up the burdens that lay at their feet, they hesitated at first. Yet soon they obeyed, picked up the wings with their beaks, and set them on their shoulders to carry them. For a short time the load seemed heavy and difficult to bear, but soon, as they continued to carry the burden and to fold the wings over their hearts, the wings grew attached to their little bodies.They quickly discovered how to use them and were lifted by the wings high into the air. The weights had become wings.This is a parable for us. We are the wingless birds, and our duties and tasks are the wings God uses to lift us up and carry us heavenward. We look at our burdens and heavy loads, and try to run from them, but if we will carry them and tie them to our hearts, they will become wings. And on them we can then rise and soar to God.There is no burden so heavy that when lifted cheerfully with love in our hearts will not become a blessing to us. God intends for our tasks to be our helpers; to refuse to bend our shoulders to carry a load is to miss a new opportunity for growth." J. R. Miller "No matter how overwhelming, any burden God has lovingly placed with His own hands on our shoulders is a blessing" Frederick William Faber

When I was a child I was consumed with the desire to fly. My knees now attest to the many times I jumped from low roofs and high swings in my desire to capture that sense of flying.This month I find myself faced with a set of wings before me . I tried to run as I said "Lord, this set of wings is too big for me, and I heard Him answer "Of course they are but you are not going to be flying alone. I will there with you every beat."Contrary to the popular bumper sticker, God is not my co-pilot. But I aspire to be His. He's sure to overcome my fear of flying!