I Believe… I Can Fly!

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When you were little, didn’t you have great dreams? Great ambitions? Great hopes? The line blurs for a child, between “dull reality” and “vibrant creativity”, whether one sees a professional athlete, or astronaut, or the greatest singer EVER, or a knight in shining armor conquering dragons and saving those in distress!

But then, we grow up… We learn… There are limits to the possible. We learn to build our boxes. We learn the myriad of things we “cannot do”. We learn the bumps, the bruises, the batterings of the world and people around us. We learn… all there is… is this. Just little, dull, mundane, me… and you… and them… and this! (With a decidedly NOT “capital T” in “this”.)

But then, one incredible day, Jesus enters our own little, dull, mundane, me-and-you world. And He says things like… “To what shall I liken the Kingdom?” and somewhere, deep inside, there is a heart stirring… a tiny leap of hope… a whisper (too small, too timid, even to be fully “heard” or acknowledged, but still really there)… the child’s heart whisper of… “Maybe… just… maybe…” And old dreams, forgotten dreams of Kingdoms, and knights, and deeds of unrelenting courage and adventure rouse again deep inside…

Beyond this, on just as incredible a day,.. “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?^‘ And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” [Matthew 18:1-4]

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What if….

What if your Father were King of the Universe?

What if He had crafted and designed you, from before the beginning of time, to live fully as Prince/Princess in Him, and your perquisites and authority came into play as you learned to embrace and wield them with grace, love, and wisdom?

What if all those “heroic dreams” of your childhood were not simply aspirations TO Him, but hints to your actual nature FROM Him?

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What if all the greatest dreams you ever dreamed were the barest inkling, just the slightest hints, of what you truly are and can embrace right here, right now?

Because… I have come to believe that all those dreams of greatness, heroism, adventure… are simply true. I believe I can fly. I believe I once allowed the truth of my humble childhood to be dashed and devastated by those around me who taught of limits, and boundaries, and boxes for Our Father and His embrace. That those same people BELIEVE in “limits”… that there’s only “so much to go around”, and that for ONE person to acknowledge the reality of Infinite Grace… that must somehow “diminish the availability” for others!

This was the error of the disciples noted above. This was what they needed to learn to “see another way”, to “be converted” from…

They wanted to know… “Who would be greatest in His Kingdom?” Because for the answer to be “ONE” of them… the answer could NOT be “ALL” of them.

Little children do not worry about such things. Little children don’t think such questions.

Little children just ask, “Am I? May I be? May I have?”

They haven’t yet learned the shrewd and measuring “sidelong look” at others around them, and begun the calculation that… “If He gives ME this… then THEY won’t get it!”

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Can you find and release your Inner Child?

Can you believe?

Can you fly?

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He only awaits your testing your wings, for He’s always holding us up, saying… “Trust Me.” We LIVE in the fullness of His Kingdom, called and equipped to rescue, to seek and save, that which is lost. The greatest adventure any can ever know!

Joy and grace to you!

The Little Monk

 

Journey — Unwelcome Guests

Greetings, Gentle Reader. Please forgive my absence for these days. I have been ill. Nothing serious, just one of those annoying little “molecules that think they’re alive” things, that wreak havoc on otherwise peace-loving internal organs… creating digestive chaos of all sorts. Well, and a bit of fever, and difficulty with focusing my vision… or sitting upright… or staying awake. Anyway, certainly not conducive to typing in any form.

Things are much better now, and I can again appreciate some of the beauty of this trip. But even in the early part of my little “side odyssey of infection” there, the Lord was kind enough to provide a moment of “comic relief” I thought you might enjoy.

This is, in my part of the United States, the school holiday called “Spring Break”, and my daughter and grandkids have taken the opportunity to visit for the week (and managed to bring along with them the little molecule that laid me low, who they had hosted the prior week… we’re a “sharing” family).

My grandson is 5 years old.... *pause*…. That really about says it all, if you know any 5 year old persons, especially little boys. Just in case you do not, my grandson’s basic motto is… “CHARGE!!!!” (Often screamed at the top of his lungs, full tilt run, sword held aloft in one hand, shield buckled on to the other, seeking the nearest dragon who DARES rear his/her ugly head in the presence of the Little Prince’s family or pets (whom Little Prince is sworn to defend)!)

My granddaughter, on the other hand, is a vastly more ancient 7 years old, speaks of back-in-the-day as “when I was little”, and alternates between two general roles in their scenarios… playing “Damsel in Distress” to the Little Prince’s rescue efforts… or… his “Hall Monitor”. By this I mean that she often sees it as her own divinely appointed task to inform adults (particularly their mother) of any misdeeds or bending/breakage of rules, norms, mores, or regulations… of said Little Prince. Our Little Princess has long treated this task as her holy and sacred trust.  (Her parents work diligently to discourage and correct her for the annoyance of “tattling”, while at the same time dancing the fine line that… frankly… the straight-up intel is both valuable and (at times, perhaps even) life-saving. Little Prince can be VERY creative.)

OK, here’s the scene… daughter and I sitting in living room watching a movie… children playing quietly in “their room” in my house, where they can watch movies, scatter toys at random, and generally enjoy being as boisterous as they choose without adults nagging at them.

Suddenly… Little Prince breaks free of the dungeon and TEARS across living room into kitchen SCREAMING… “I DIDN’T DO IT!!!” Ducks out of view….

Daughter and I blink… look at one another… wait for sound of screaming or crashing or glass tinkling… we hear nothing. All is silence. No Little Prince. No Little Princess. No debris sounds. We shrug… I wonder if daughter can resist the temptation… she cannot… we hit “Pause” on our movie, as…

“Little Prince?” daughter ventures in a tentative voice… “What… precisely… is it, that you did not do?”

*crickets chirp in the silence…  until…. a moment later*…

“I DIDN’T DO IT!!!” streaks the Little Prince, dashing back at top speed from the Kitchen back to the Play Room.

We continue to ponder these mysteries for a few seconds, as I wait to see how daring is “Mother-who-Must-be-Obeyed”, and whether she’ll decide to stand up and investigate or not. She decides discretion to be the better part of valor and as I reach to press “Play” there is just one final act to this minor melodrama…

Little Prince emerges one last time, stands in front of “Mother-who-Must…” and screams, “I DIDN’T DO IT!!!” and disappears back into the Play Room.

As Daughter and I ponder this, our Little Princess appears utterly casually bouncing a balloon in the air, into the foyer (where she can play balloon-volleyball).

“Um, Little Princess… is everything OK?” Daughter asks.

“Yup!” responds Little Princess, without hesitation.

Now, bear in mind… were there ANYTHING to REPORT, on the Little Prince… THIS would have been the moment seized without hesitation or remainder. But… NOTHING.

So… at this crossroads of horizon… this potential detective mystery… prudence won out. Nothing more emerged. The principle of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” prevailed… we hit the “Play” button, and carried on with our quiet afternoon and movie.

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Epilogue:

A few moments later, in the back of my spirit, the Lord began laughing uproariously. I was confused…

“Um… Lord?”

“Oh, Little Monk! You have NO idea…” as He continues to laugh in clear good humor.

“Huh?” I respond, with all the sophistication I could muster.

“I go through that ALL the TIME. You, your friends… all the time!”

I was confused.

“You’ll come running out to Me, screaming… ‘I didn’t DO it!’… about something-or-other you feel guilty about. Sometimes, you really DIDN’T, and of course I KNOW that… but you still think you have to convince Me of it. Sometimes, you DID… and of course I know that, too… but I took care of it, forgave and removed the stain of it… but you still think you have to lie to yourself, or to Me, or to others about it.

“In either case, you’ve been driven into a panic by a random prick of meaningless guilt! Scares you, disrupts our relationship, doesn’t accomplish a thing. Just meaningless noise.

“Beloved child, don’t let random ‘spirits of guilt’ prod you and panic you. My children do this to Me all the time. The Father and I just look at one another, blink, and laugh when you do this… much as you did there.

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“Little Monk, on your journey here… consider leaving behind these random barbs of meaningless guilt. They only distract and disturb you. When you experience conviction of spirit, yes… come sort that out with Me. But these little ‘stampede spirits’? Laugh, and dismiss them. They accomplish nothing.”

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Hmmm… who’da thunk it? A 5 year old Little Prince… first sermon… not bad, eh?