UP UP & AWAY
On the last day of our vacation in Florida, we went parasailing. Well 4 of the 5 of us did. My oldest son, has always struggled with a fear of heights, and generally is a risk adverse personality, but he still went on the boat with us and participated as the camera-man and stuff holder. My husband and I each paired up with the younger 2 kids who have yet to meet an adventure they don’t want to take on. I am afraid of heights, but I am also a close your eyes and jump kind of person, so while I tend to avoid anything that makes me look down for too long, or really makes me climb up to the heights, if you can get me up, I will take the plunge. I was very nervous, nervous about the take off and landing (both of which happen from the front of the boat), but I was also nervous about the amount of time we would be in the air, 400 ft in the air to be precise.
And suddenly it was our turn. My daughter and I climbed up to the front of the boat, already having been strapped into our harness, the guides snapped us into the sail and sat us down on the deck. As they released the sail, we felt the tug on us, leaned back into it a bit, and lifted off. I had expected a bit of a jolt, a jerk into the air, but instead it was just this smooth lifting us off the boat. The tow line was let out and smoothly and without much time passing, we sailed up and up, higher and higher, away from the boat.
Perspective Change
Perspective is a funny thing. Usually when we are in the middle of something our view feels like the only view, our experience the only way to experience, our emotions the only right emotions. But as we all know, once we look at something from a different angle, things don’t always look so black and white.
With the benefit of hindsight, we can look back on a million moments in our lives and see so many other things. The end of the world was only a blip on the radar of our story, that failure that we thought would mar us forever, has long since been forgotten, that hurt that we thought would never go away, healed with minimal scarring. Hindsight changes perspective.
Experiences change our perspectives too. The way we see and experience something, looks very different if we have never experienced it. However, as soon as we see something through the lens of “been there done that,” things change. Before having kids I viewed the mother/child interactions much differently than I do now, after having four of my own. My grace is much greater, my empathy much wider, my perspective much fuller.
Then, there is the physical change of perspective. A literal change of our environment and view. As a I floated about the Gulf, above the birds, everything is different. For starters, other than the laughter and wonder from me and my daughter, it was quiet…. the noise of the world washed away. But also from up here, just 400 feet above it all, the 2020 world had washed away. No masks, no distancing, no politics, no media… from the ground it can sometimes feel like nothing is right in the world anymore, but from up above… The ocean still swells and crashes to the shore, the birds still dive for fish, the dolphins still swim and frolic, the sun is still in the sky where it belongs.
SEEKING HIM
Sometimes without even realizing it, we actually need a physically different perspective. In my years working for a church, I often discovered that getting outside the walls of our building, talking to people outside the community of staff and church attenders, looking at challenges outside of the status quo, was not only desperately needed, but not sought out enough. Taking a hard look at not only what and how we are doing something, but why we were doing it. Physically distancing ourselves allows us to examine our hearts, motives, and desires. Do we need to extend more grace, have more compassion, be more open or stand firm? Have we developed tunnel vision or are we doing things out of habit? Have we chosen the right battles to fight, the right hills to die on? It’s easy to lose perspective, to allow the walls to close in around us, how are you doing with this? This week, will you find a moment to physically step outside of your current perspective. Seek higher ground, and look around. Where do you need to reexamine your thoughts, your feelings, your plans? Where do you need to step back and ask God for direction? Where do you need to take up the sword or lay it down? Or maybe you just need to step out of the noise, splash in the water a bit, and laugh.
God Speaks
This year, God opened the door again, and took me back to Florida. This time to the Gulf side with my family. The rhythm was much the same, room, beach, pool, food, games. And there God met me again, in a boat with my family… with a simple reminder… playful dolphin.
