Flying

I had the pleasure, during the past two days, of seeing Superman Returns in the theatre, and the original Superman on HBO. I have been a Superman fan for a long time...something about the cape and the secret identity (I love Zorro for the same reasons). I have the first season of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman on DVD. I love watching the story unfold, told in different ways with different actors and Super Suits, but always fundamentally the same.

As I was watching Superman fly Lois Lane around today, it all came together for me. I'm a Lois. I like hard facts and am skeptical of anything that seems too good to be true. I used to believe in fairy tales when I was a girl, but as a woman, everyday life replaced my fanciful dreams with the reality of lectures and research papers, working for a living and making due with a week or a day off here and there instead of three months of summer vacation. I like to know how things work, and I like to know the end of the story before I read the whole book.

And that's how Lois was as I was watching her today. Superman took her up into the star-filled night sky and she was afraid. Afraid to look down, afraid of falling, afraid of being let go of. And just then, as I was watching her cringe, a line from one of my favorite songs ran through my heart: "Sometimes the thrill of soaring has to begin with the fear of falling" (Crystal Lewis, "For Such a Time as This"). And as she was behaving this way, Superman just looked at her with an indulgent smile, knowing that she had nothing to fear, but patiently waiting for her to discover that for herself.

Music has always been a very powerful way for me to hear God's voice, and in the past five years or so there have been a few songs that I have fallen in love with that have to do with flying. One I have just mentioned by Crystal Lewis. A few others are "Learn to Fly" by the Foo Fighters ("Looking to the sky to save me...looking for something to help me..."); "Ready to Fly" by Richard Marx ("I've always had wings but I wasn't ready to fly"); and "I'm Gonna Fly" by Amy Grant ("I'm gonna fly, no one knows where, but I'm gonna fly, I'll soar through the air"); "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson ("I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly, I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky").

Something in all these songs has spoken to my heart, and my shy inner self that has been waiting in the wings has slowly been stepping out into the spotlight. It's not always comfortable and sometimes I still hide in the shadows that I am so comfortable with, but more and more I am learning to step out of my comfort zone and answer God's call, whatever that may be.

So I was a Lois. I have always known that. But God is transforming me into something else, a new creation (the old has gone, the new has come). Someone who believes in things that most people think are impossible (nothing is impossible with God).

I'm ready for take off...first stop: Marysville, Ohio.