Angel Wings

"You had angel wings." I had never heard that expression used before, but I knew what she meant. While cycling downhill at a fairly high speed, I lost control of my bike, and crashed. The bike struck a metal reflector pole, while my body grazed it as I flipped and landed on my helmet covered head. For a fall of such magnitude I escaped with relatively few scrapes and bruises. The bike is another matter. When I told this story to a friend who works at a bike shop, she said, "You had angel wings."

In my gut I knew it could have ended quite differently. In actuality this was a near death experience, and for some reason God had preserved my life. I know a statement like that might be troubling to some, and I make it with a great deal of hesitation. I know that it sounds like God singled me out to have my life preserved, while there are others who may not have experienced the hand of God that way. I know of fellow cyclists whose lives were lost in crashes and car accidents. The whole question of why me and not others raises its head. Why I was spared the consequences of a broken imperfect world while others are not is a mystery. It is tempting to think that God has something great or special yet for me to do. I have spoken with some people who have interpreted their near death experiences that way. There are some who have used their near death experiences as a second chance at life. Tragically, I knew one person who was still wondering what great thing God had spared him for, while he died of cancer.

Whether God has something great for me yet to do, is up to God. I am still trying do what God has asked of me at this moment, and I am not egotistical enough to think that there is something far greater than what I am currently doing. Impacting lives for eternity is huge regardless of where one does it. Which brings us back to the reason God preserved my life.

It has been said that the problem with atheism is that you don't have anyone to thank. Thankfully I do.

Faith in the Wilderness

On a recent backpacking trip with my son, Chris, I discovered that fishing is never the same in the same spot, even using the same lures. We had fished this incredible high mountain lake in the Soldier mountain area of the Frank Church Wilderness. I was using a Panther Martin lure- bright yellow with black dots and a red feather skirt at the base near the hooks. Within a span of an hour I must have landed close to twenty fish. I took so many (and threw them back) that we jokingly said I Pantherized them. After fishing for several hours we packed up and hiked to another lake where we spent the night. The next day after bushwacking to another lake, we returned to this same lake. The water was crystal clear. You could see the trout swimming around nabbing a fly here or there. However try as I might, they would not even acknowledge the panther. Cast after cast after cast and no takers. I began using a variety of lures. I think I tried just about everything in my arsenal. The end result is that we caught only a few fish, and none of them on that yellow panther martin.

I was reminded just how fast things change. Same lake, same fish, same lure, different results. What I needed was a new lure. Something fresh, perhaps a different color scheme.

I used to write and color in my Bible a lot. I have several Bibles filled with sermon notes, Bible study insights, and quiet time reflections. I don't write or color in my Bible anymore. Things change, and change rapidly, and when they do, a note or color or an insight a year or so old may not be of any assistance. By focusing my attention towards what I had read and understood previously, it may actually hinder the word from God I need to hear from getting through to me. If every minute of every day is truly a fresh page, I found I need a fresh page of scripture, to be able to hear a fresh word.