fl y a bility

back in the day i cohosted flyability.net. the word is made up but the definition i would give it would be the ability to fly (duh.). i've always had a fascination with flying because it could be symbolic in so many ways. you hear songs about it. you see it in movies. in forrest gump jenny says she wants to fly. in moulin rouge nicole sings "one day i'll fly away leaving this to yesterday." nelly furtado sings about it, r. kelly sings about it. flying symbolizes escape. liberation. independence. you don't hear people singing about swimming away. it sounds goofy. but gosh. can you just IMAGINE how amazing it would be to fly? to stretch out your wings and just launch into infinity and defy gravity?

imagine dumbo. when he first launched into the air. the sheer joy! the awesomeness! he thought the magic feather did the trick when in fact it was his trust that lifted him up. what does it take to fly? faith? i'm not talking about the literal flying here. but the same kinda feeling of freedom and unrestrainedness that birds have when flying. to find freedom in God. thats what i'm talking about.

i remember a children's story about a catepillar that watched his friends the bees and the ladybugs fly away everyday, leaving him behind. he was lonely and very lacking in flyability. however much to his surprise he became a beautiful butterfly one day and flew alongside his friends. flying takes patience. if God gave us wings in the beginning, how much less we'd see His glory and appreciate the wings.

one last story. back in the day birds were all wingless. they had shimmering feathers and beautiful voices, but wingless and they did not care to fly much. but God knew what His plan was for the birds so he laid wings in front of the birds and told them to try them on. first the birds hesitated for the wings weren't light at alll but rather a burden to carry. but when they finally burdened themselve with the wings and carried them around for a bit, they found the wings growing to themselves and eventually they were able to soar into the air effortlessly.

"They will soar on wings like eagles." Isaiah 40:31

what does it take to fly? suffering? ours sufferings are not God's punishments. they dont' end in nothingless. they're helping us EARN our wings. only when we can courageously take on our burdens can we really experience the joy of posessing wings and flyability.