FLY you fool

Turning from Attachment to Desire: John Eldredge: 04/29/2009
So much of the journey forward involves a letting go of all that once brought us life. We turn away from the familiar abiding places of the heart, the false selves we have lived out, the strengths we have used to make a place for ourselves and all our false loves, and we venture forth in our hearts to trace the steps of the One who said, “Follow me.” In a way, it means that we stop pretending: that life is better than it is, that we are happier than we are, that the false selves we present to the world are really us. We respond to the Haunting, the wooing, the longing for another life. Pilgrim begins his adventure toward redemption with a twofold turning: a turning away from attachment and a turning toward desire. He wanted life and so he stuck his fingers in his ears and ran like a madman (“a fool,” to use Paul’s term) in search of it. The freedom of heart needed to journey comes in the form of detachment. As Gerald May writes in Addiction and Grace, Detachment is the word used in spiritual traditions to describe freedom of desire. Not freedom from desire, but freedom of desire . . . An authentic spiritual understanding of detachment devalues neither desire nor the objects of desire. Instead, it “aims at correcting one’s own anxious grasping in order to free oneself for committed relationship to God.” According to Meister Eckhart, detachment “enkindles the heart, awakens the spirit, stimulates our longings, and shows us where God is.”With an awakened heart, we turn and face the road ahead, knowing that no one can take the trip for us, nor can anyone plan our way. (The Sacred Romance , 149)

What does this mean for us?

This reminded me of the scene in "The Lord of the Rings" when Gandalf was fighting the Balrog on the bridge (that giant devil made of fire). After Gandalf shouts with authority "You shall not pass!" and the Balrog falls as the bridge collapses right where he stands (which is what we have the power to do for real!)...he turns his back on the the Balrog and is caught by the foot, falls, and grasps the ledge of the bridge. As the fellowship looks on in shock...Gandalf looks up at them and says "Fly, you fools" and then he LETS GO and falls (which we later know that he was able to grab his sword in the fall and defeat the Balrog, and later after being dead, he is revived and comes back even stronger and more alive to join in the fight once again). His words to them are more than just "quick you guys...run away!"...he is speaking of a deeper calling to the Fellowship.

I shared this to connect with the above devotion mentioning Pilgrim being a fool...and 1 Cor 1:18 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." and 1 Cor 4:10 "We are fools for Christ".

Gandalf was letting them know it was time the Fellowship took flight towards their callings. Each one had a purpose and a very important role to play in the bigger story of Middle Earth.

I created the above collage with Gandalf on it, an eagle, and the words "Fly, you fool" This represents Isaiah 40:31 "But those who HOPE in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

That's where I am...on that cliff...and I'm letting go and God is saying to us...It's time for our group to fly and reach for our dreams and pursue our desires with all we've got! Our hearts are worth fighting for and this is a call to take courage and go for it! We each have a purpose and an important role to play in the bigger story of this Upside Down Kingdom...and it's time to fly!

DIVE DEEP!

Dare We Desire?

"No desire will ever be placed in you by the Holy Spirit unless He intends to fulfill it. So let your faith rise up and soar away to claim all the land that you can discover." - S.A.Keen

"Everything you can comprehend through faith's vision belongs to you. Look as far as you can, for it is all yours. All you long to be as a Christian, and all you long to do for God, are within the possibilities of faith. Then draw closer to Him, and with your Bible before you, and your soul completely open to the power of the Spirit, allow your entire being to receive the baptism of His presence. As He opens your understanding, enabling to see His fullness, believe He has it all for you. Accept for yourself all the promises of His Word, all the desires He awakens within you, and all the possibilities of what you could become as a follower of Jesus. All the land you see is given to you. 

The provision of His grace, which helps us along the way to the fulfillment of His promise, is actually tied to the inner vision God has given us. He who puts the natural instinct in the heart of a bird to fly across a continent in search of a warmer climate is too good to deceive it. Just as we are confident He placed the instinct within the bird, we can be assured He has also provided balmy breezes and springlike sun to meet it when it arrives. 

And He who breathes heavenly hope into our hearts will not deceive or fail us when we press forward toward its realization." - author unknown

"They left and found things just as Jesus had told them." - Luke 22:13

Remember...

"Above all else, guard your heart. For it is the wellspring of life." -Proverbs 4:23

fear is a tool of the enemy to keep us from living

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?”  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.  There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so other people won’t feel insecure around you.  We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us… And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." -Nelson Mandela

A Tale Of Three Kings

The Boise Vineyard has launched a 13 week sermon series titled "The Heart of David" studying the life of David in the Bible. The series will focus on the ups and downs of his life and why he has been called "a man after God's own heart". 

They are also using the book "A Tale of Three Kings" as a reference and have created a blog on-line for people to enter into the conversation and study http://www.ataleofthreekings.com 

The VineArts ministry at the Vineyard has painted a large 3 paneled canvas backdrop coinciding with this study reflecting various elements of David's life (through artistic symbolism) and the connection to Christ and God's hand throughout the ages.