I Can Fly

I can fly – in my dreams. It is wonderful to soar over the neighborhood, fly across the lakes and mountains while enjoying the beauty of what God has created for us (though not necessarily by flying). Men have always dreamed of flying, but most of them used balloons or built aircraft, though many of the early models seemed too flimsy to be of much use.

That has not stopped a few (very few) from attempting to fly with parachutes attached to motors, or winged suits that make one wonder if anyone in their right mind would be doing such a thing. But men have “flown” in wing suits, and proclaimed it to be one of the most exciting journey in life.

It doesn’t always turn out well.

Los Angeles (AFP) – A world-renowned extreme athlete died along with another man during a stunt at the Yosemite National Park in California. Tributes poured in from all over the globe for Dean Potter, 43, following his death on Saturday. He and fellow BASE jumper Graham Hunt, 29, were killed during a jump at Taft Point, ABC News said, citing Yosemite National Park spokesman Scott Gediman. Reports filtered through to park officials on Saturday of an accident and a helicopter spotted the two bodies on Sunday. When Rangers got to them about noon, they were identified as Potter and Hunt, Gediman said. Other media said the pair had been attempting a wingsuit flight from Taft Point but smashed into a rocky outcrop when they tried to fly through a narrow gap in the mountains. On Potter’s official Facebook page — where he describes himself as “artist, adventurer, athlete” — extreme sports enthusiasts from all over the world paid tribute to the man admired for his fearlessness and incredible courage.

Some would write off this type of man. Loony, crazy, unbelievably naive and prone to self-destruction. Perhaps. . .that’s really a judgment call, and needs someone wiser than me to make the decisions regarding such activities.

It is True, however, that everyday, all over our World, men and women move through life with the same unbelievable specter of death tracking their every move. Each individual lives within a heartbeat of facing the One who will judge the quick and the dead, and like Dean Potter, gambles on his chute opening every time. Some of those individuals gamble that Salvation will find them before the sudden stop of their life on this planet.

I urge you to refrain from jumping off mountains wearing a wing suit. Instead, if you are yet to come to faith in Christ, find a Church near you, and ask them to help you discover the Truth of Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Then you can face the uncertainties of what life will present to you without fear and doubt. Falling off the proverbial cliff of life’s concerns can be a lot less disturbing.