Beautiful Sky

Little did she know that when she jumped, uncertain whether her parachute would actually open, that her fall would feel like an eternity.

The initial step took so much courage that she hadn't considered what would come next.  All she could focus on, all she could muster up the energy to do, was to take that first step and trust.

Braced for a possible collision, relieved when her parachute did spread across the sky in a beautiful canopy of shelter, she was content to sail.  Riding the wind, she was amazed at God's faithfulness.

And yet, with the passing time, the magic and wonder of blue skies, grey majestic mountains and green rolling valley's became tedious.  She became preoccupied again by her destination. Settling into the comfort of open sky embracing her was not enough! 

Her weakness was always looking ahead, beyond, past the beauty of the moment.  Constantly taking snapshots of the now, eager to add today to her collection of memories, she fully intended to tuck them away and appreciate them fully one allusive day in the future.  

Sad unfortunate soul, she still did not realize that the snapshot never does capture the true beauty and essence that is the gift of a moment.  A pale replica of the actual experience, it would never be as fantastic as it was before her now.

The pale memories would continue to keep her dissatisfied.  Her life would always be shabby and dull in comparison to the vibrant moments she witnessed in the journey's of the travelers she encountered along the way.

The fall was so long.  Each altitude had new experiences.   Each one unique, equally difficult and challenging and so, ironically, they seemed to be the same.  Soon one experience bled into the next, and though she was changing and growing,  they became to her one continuous string of waiting.

Useless, untapped, forgotten were the words that plagued her thoughts, ever distracted from the marvel and wonder in her situation.  The fall seemed endless, quiet, desolate, hopeless. She became desperate for her destination, for the end to this season.

And yet had she fixed her eyes right before her, had she reflected for a moment on the beauty and potential of her situation, had she clung to the courage and optimism with which she had begun her fall, she would realize that her fall was an embrace.  A slow, gentle breeze that was lovingly nudging her to quiet, stillness, and God's own peace.  She had been given the most graceful and merciful transition, in the security of a God who was sheltering her every moment and had generously given her the necessary time to effectively enter the next, free of worry and anxiety, free of any personal burdens or efforts.

He WAS in control.  He had measured the journey. He was setting the pace.  He controlled the atmosphere and the landscape, every sight and every experience had been planned for her benefit, for her good.  

And upon that realization, she released all her expectations, worries, fears and desires and succumbed to the embrace of the beautiful sky.