Thought for the Week
Sunday 25th October (The Last Sunday after Trinity)
Up and Away!
A few weeks ago, Philip and I crossed another thing off our list of Things to Do Before We are 99 ¾. We went on a hot air balloon flight.
When I was a little girl and on long road trips with my Dad, we used to play a game called “There’s a sermon in that”. And there are definitely parallels between riding in a hot air balloon and the Christian faith.
Firstly, you have to believe in the balloon. You have to have faith it can take off safely, fly safely and land safely. Of course you can’t be 100% sure of any of this, and before we got airborne we had to practice the brace position, just in case.
Secondly, you have to trust the pilot. Ours was a happy chappy called Sevket Kaan Cakir. He was young, and had a beautiful wife waiting for him back in Cappadocia. No, we had never met him before, but we trusted him with our lives.
Thirdly, you have to be ready for a whole new perspective on the world. We set off in the pre-dawn darkness, other balloons glowing redly in the gloom and our fellow balloonists just grey shadows in a featureless landscape. But as we ascended into the sunrise, we saw the countryside spread out below us, roads and towns, playgrounds and lakes, and finally the stunning white travertine terraces of Pamukkale, where mineral rich thermal waters flow down from the ancient Roman city of Hierapolis. The experience was dreamy, quiet except for the occasional whoosh of fire roaring into the delicate canopy. In the distance we could see dozens of other balloons, blooming like tropical flowers lit with flame.
As Christians we have put our faith in Jesus, for this life and the next. He is our pilot and we trust that he will guide us though the changes and chances, joys and sorrows of life and land us safely on a further, sparkling shore, where God himself will dwell among us, the nations will be healed and death and mourning will be no more. Just as flame makes the balloon rise, the fire of the Holy Spirit helps us to rise above circumstances (we might sometimes need the brace position) giving us the power to soar. Our faith gives us a whole new perspective on the world, we can see what matters, rise above materialism and anxiety, and experience the beauty of heaven touching earth when God’s Kingdom is glimpsed, now in part but then face to face.
Rachel (LLM)