Flying to Las Vegas this past week for my Dad’s birthday, I was seated next to my grandson Ethan. It was not his first time on an airplane but the first time he was old enough to know what was going on. He was fascinated as he looked out the window at all the other planes and baggage and workers, but nothing was more amazing for him than when the engines began to roar and we headed down the runway for takeoff. As the plane increased in speed so did Ethan’s exhilaration and enthusiasm. He began to literally sing along with the engine. It would be hard to spell the exact sound that was coming from his lungs, but it was something like a high-pitched “whooohooweeeeewhooohoooooooweee…” As the engine got louder so did he, which got the attention and smiles of all the passengers sitting nearby.
As I thought about it later I began wondering who had the more appropriate response to what we were all experiencing? Was it us adults, who had been through this dozens of times before, and so the idea of a massive piece of metal weighing well over 150 tons with 250 people sitting inside about to float in the air 30,000 feet above the earth, reacting with a “ho-hum...pass the peanuts,” or was it Ethan’s wide-eyed, enthusiastic “whoohooooweee?” Maybe we were the ones who had somehow missed the amazement in the amazing.
I came across Habakkuk 1:5, “Be astonished! Be astounded! For I am doing something among you that you would not believe if you were told!” That day on the airplane with Ethan I received a nice picture of what astonished and astounded looks like. One way to think about the church is to view it as the gathering that tries to help us hang on to what is astonishing or astounding in our living. It is far too easy in our everyday schedules to become ho-hum about life or unimpressed with some of the simple wonders that exist all around us. We need each other to help us remember and see what is happening every day in our world. There are truly plenty of bad things that get our attention and need our action, but the prophet Habakkuk did not want us to miss all the other things that were happening as well. In some ways he wanted us to be on the edge of our seats like Ethan was in that plane, getting ourselves ready for the excitement and amazement of takeoff.
Take a few moments to list of some of the ways you’ve been blessed this past year. Bring those thoughts with you to Thanksgiving as you anticipate the astounding and amazing year to come. “Whooohooweeeeewhooohoooooooweee…!!!”
As I thought about it later I began wondering who had the more appropriate response to what we were all experiencing? Was it us adults, who had been through this dozens of times before, and so the idea of a massive piece of metal weighing well over 150 tons with 250 people sitting inside about to float in the air 30,000 feet above the earth, reacting with a “ho-hum...pass the peanuts,” or was it Ethan’s wide-eyed, enthusiastic “whoohooooweee?” Maybe we were the ones who had somehow missed the amazement in the amazing.
I came across Habakkuk 1:5, “Be astonished! Be astounded! For I am doing something among you that you would not believe if you were told!” That day on the airplane with Ethan I received a nice picture of what astonished and astounded looks like. One way to think about the church is to view it as the gathering that tries to help us hang on to what is astonishing or astounding in our living. It is far too easy in our everyday schedules to become ho-hum about life or unimpressed with some of the simple wonders that exist all around us. We need each other to help us remember and see what is happening every day in our world. There are truly plenty of bad things that get our attention and need our action, but the prophet Habakkuk did not want us to miss all the other things that were happening as well. In some ways he wanted us to be on the edge of our seats like Ethan was in that plane, getting ourselves ready for the excitement and amazement of takeoff.
Take a few moments to list of some of the ways you’ve been blessed this past year. Bring those thoughts with you to Thanksgiving as you anticipate the astounding and amazing year to come. “Whooohooweeeeewhooohoooooooweee…!!!”
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