Monday, March 14, 2011

The beginnings...

So, I've had a few people (all of them unpaid!) ask me about doing a blog. I'm kind of amazed that they'd do that - I tend to be kind of opinionated about things that touch my passion, but I guess I do have my own way of seeing things. And besides, I figure if nothing else this will be a creative outlet for myself. Sometimes I don't see the forest in my life because of all the trees in my mind blocking my view. So maybe my words will build a road through that mental jungle deeper into this mystery we call life.

It's my hope that I'll be able to provide a pleasant mix of pictures - verbal, symbolic, photographic or artist-created - to portray my own journey of relationships (spiritual and earthly). Sometimes I have hard questions to ask with no easy answers. But sometimes I'm blown away by the breathtaking beauty of life and people and have to spill over the fullness of those experiences.

Why the name "Free Flight"? Oh, for a variety of reasons... One of the first scriptures that ever got inside me and healed a spot I didn't even know was wounded, was from Psalm 63:7 (and I don't remember what version, maybe NIV?) - "Because You are my help, I can sing in the shadow of Your wings." At the time I had such a vision of being a terrified bird, cowering under the protectiveness of my Daddy's wing. Have you ever heard the story about the wild brush fire that roared over acres of grassland, destroying everything in its path (not unlike what has been happening in Oklahoma lately, as well as other places... so sad...). A firefighter, walking across the scorched land, came across the charred remains of a bird (maybe a hen? or a quail? I don't remember...). When he nudged it with his toe he was startled by a flurry of activity - and several baby birds came rushing out from under their mother's burned wing. She had given her life for her beloved babies - not unlike our story, if you get my drift... ANYWAY - that's the image I had from that scripture.

Shortly after that, Abba started leaving me personal love notes, just little messages to let me know He was thinking of me... and loving me... and they were in the form of feathers. I've found feathers in the most unlikely places at the most significant times, when a hug from God was the only remedy possible for the fleeting moments of pain or confusion. And I've found feathers that blew me away with their incredible artistry and detail, which have left me gasping in wonder at His incredible creative eye. And I have also been gifted with amazing feathers from people who out of their love for me and knowledge of the power that form of communication has for me, wanted to be a part of this Divine exchange - and I'm forever grateful.

So yeah, that's a big part of the name choice for this blog. But there's so much more than that. Maybe it's because I came to my relationship with Him so late in my life - at the age of 49, after a life crammed full of choices and experiences, some good, some not so much - that I strained and balked at some of the rituals and beliefs and observations that institutional church seemed to promote. Or maybe it's because I had spent most of my life twisting and gyrating to become whatever the significant person in my life needed me to be (beginning with parents and morphing into whatever male happened to be in my life at the time), that I had no sense of who I was or where I wanted to go or what I was to become? At any rate, flying became a verb that held great symbolism and fascination for me. Not literal flying - I have an inordinate fear of heights, and even commercial flights have become more harrowing for me as my own sense of mortality has increased. More the "free to be" kind of flying is what I'm talking about... It seems that Jesus spent quite a bit of time throwing aside convention and conformity, and embraced the miracle of mystery - and I respond pretty emphatically to that whole approach.

But there is also a tiny element of my dad in the choice of title. From his early beginnings as a boy, until the very time of his death, he had a love affair with model airplanes. Control line, radio control, and yes... even free flight. And since God used my dad's last days to teach me the most important lesson of love and forgiveness, it seems only fitting that he be an ingredient in this latest adventure.

So, I guess if you're still reading then you're willing to fly along on this journey with me. I make no promises - I don't know how regular I'll post, or how relevant it'll be for you, and I won't try to offend anyone. But I will promise to be as transparent as I'm able, and to give you the authentic Mo, unimproved, un-compromised, and maybe a wee bit unconventional.

And who knows? Maybe we'll discover the view is worth the risk...

4 comments:

  1. I am so excited... And glad you are going to be writing and sharing... Thanks for being you, open and full of "realness"... I love you...

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  2. Welcome to the blogging community, Mo!

    Can't wait to read your thoughts :)

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  3. Mo, you write so beautifully~ I'm not a huge comment-leaver anymore ever since school started but I couldn't resist popping in here and leaving with a big smile on my face that you have joined the blogging community! Love that you are just a click away.. xo, M

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  4. Eloquent my lovey. Look forward to future readings.

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