Flight of Faith
August 16, 2020
I feel most of us have an idea of what
faith is, but have a difficult time visualizing and measuring faith. How can
you attach a metric to something you can’t explain? How can you show someone
else how to embrace faith? Faith is vital to living a full life. It needs to be
part of our daily life, yet can be difficult to master. How do you start to
feel the effect of faith in your life and how do you maintain it? Faith is
required to experience miracles. How do you begin incorporating faith into your
life? Faith provides the energy to arrive at life’s milestones on the journey
of life.
On August 10th, I was given
the gift of understanding faith through a new perspective lens. In the morning,
I spoke to my mentor who encouraged me to do something new that day. As I
thought about it, I had no idea what it would be. I was staying near Invermere
BC, located in the beautiful mountains. My thoughts drifted to the power of
flight and I began looking for local helicopter tours. I was drawn to the
beautiful valley and mountains.
I had previously visited the valley for
over 30 years during the summertime. I had always felt comfortable returning
and spending time in the area. If you have visited the mountains and
experienced the air, the water, and the peace of the valley, you may be
familiar. If you have not visited the area, I will do my best to describe the location.
As I was looking for a powered flight
tour, it didn’t feel right. Instead, I started looking at gliders that flew out
of the airport. I remembered always being attracted to the gliders that would travel
in and out of the airport. I watched in fascination, as they would be towed up
in the air, remaining so high, circling the mountains long after the tow plane
had left. It seemed so graceful and beautiful as their long gull-like white
wings seemed to effortlessly climb into the sky. I had been curious for so many
years and realized as I looked at the glider website, I wanted to experience it.
The timing was right to experience the power of non-powered flight.
When I called to inquire about flight
times, my thoughts drifted back to when I woke up that morning. As I woke, my
eyes drifted to the mountains that were outside of my window. I knew I would
experience something that day that was going to be unique and positively impact
my life. At the time, I had no idea what exactly the experience would be other
than the person I would meet would also be someone of significance. As the
journey of life continues, have you ever met someone and knew they were a
master of their craft? Whatever their passion, you could immediately identify
their unique gift, and through that special gift, you felt positive energy. When
Trevor answered my call, I sensed it was the beginning of such an experience.
Trevor had afternoon openings. As he explained, the glider experience is
more effective later in the day after the clouds build. When I arrived at the
airport, I met Trevor. Trevor was sitting in the shade and immediately felt his
quiet confidence. He was in his mid 60’s and had long flowing white hair. He
was the image of a wise teacher sitting on the bench waiting for his next
student to arrive. I believe authentic learning experiences occur when the
ready student meets the waiting teacher. I remember sitting down beside him and
feeling I was at the right place at the right time. I didn’t ask him how long
it would take, what the cost would be or what was required; all I knew was that
everything was in alignment.
The airport is located in the valley
surrounded by majestic mountains ranging 5000 feet - 11,200 feet. There were
scattered cumulus clouds with a light breeze and a temperature of 25 degrees
Celsius. We watched as the tow plane took up a glider and the seemingly
effortless process amazed me. As we moved our glider into position on the
runway, I was filled with excitement.
Trevor explained getting into the
glider and provided a safety demonstration. The instrument gauges were located
directly behind Trevor’s seat. The tow plane returned to hook up our glider. We
were quickly heading down the runway. I looked about and noticed the glider
wings beginning to flex, almost like they were alive and wanted to embrace the
invisible air. Suddenly, we were lifted into the air. I remember the sense of
freedom and awe. Two hours passed in what seemed like seconds. I recall as we
were still attached to the tow plane seeing a crystal clear mountain lake on
the left and a large mountain on the right. I had said to Trevor “Wow this is
amazing” and he replied, “ You haven’t seen anything yet, just wait for us to
get higher.” I had no idea exactly what he meant, but I believed in Trevor’s words,
as I knew my life was in the hands of a master of his craft.
As we ascended in slow right-hand reaching
an altitude of 5200 feet, the command was given to release from the tow plane. I
felt a little bump and then the sound of a light breeze coming over the
cockpit’s clear bubble canopy. I noticed we were about halfway up a mountain and
Trevor continued to circle in tight right turns. Then the miracle of an unseen
powerful force presented itself. I remember again feeling the invisible power
of the wind rushing up from the valley floor alongside the mountain. The force was
pushing us higher and higher. Within minutes, we were looking down on the
mountain peak, just moments before the mountain peak was looking down at us.
I began to view the area entirely
differently than I had for over 30 years. Just 5 minutes into the air, I could
see lake to the south that would have been a 30-minute drive. To the east, I
could see the Kooteney Valley. I was seeing the contours of the valleys, lakes,
rivers, and mountains all in a way I didn’t know existed.
Intuitively, Trevor could sense the
wind updrafts and continued to pilot the glider higher and higher. We were
nearly in the clouds when he said we would soon touch them and moments later we
did. He changed course and headed west. We crossed the valley where we had
taken off at and skipped across the air currents to a new line of mountains. At
this height, he was able to maintain speed and lose minimal altitude, as he was
able to fly into the updrafts. It was a sensation of skipping across the wind
and clouds. I overwhelmed by emotion of the unseen force of God’s perfect
creation. I could feel the power of the wind and see the impact of its energy.
We were far higher than all the mountain peaks that were once higher than us. I
could see glaciers, rivers, lakes and beauty that seemed dreamlike.
Trevor received notification that his
next rider had cancelled. I felt a sense of awe, as I knew my journey was going
to be extended. It seemed Trevor was relieved, as he could sense my enjoyment
and we would be able to continue our travel. He pointed out a movie and
commercial locations, historical mining camps, and shared information about the
area. Without accepting the gentle nudge I received earlier in the morning, I
wouldn’t have had such an amazing experience. I continued to feel the wind pushing
us higher.
The experience allowed me to feel
closer to God than I have had. I realized the unseen miracle of the power and
was able feel it’s power. The teacher was there all along. I was finally ready
to learn more about the miracles of God that He freely gives. As I thought
about the experience and how it relates to the unseen force and concept of
faith, the glider experience mimics the pattern of faith.
The glider needed a more significant
force than it could generate by itself while it was sitting static on the runway.
The glider required the initial energy of the tow plane to lift it into the air.
At some point in time, we all will hit our rock bottom of despair and not know
which way to turn or what action to take next. If you have hit rock bottom,
there was likely someone or something that gave you the initial power to start
moving and climbing out of despair. If you haven’t been there, it will happen.
When it does, it is the first step into feeling the force of faith. There will
be a force that will propel your forward, lift you and will allow your wings to
connect with your power source.
Once the initial helping force is used,
it will be time to let go and move forward without the force that lifted you.
It will be a transitional time for you to take what you have learned and find a
new source of power. The source of energy is hard to understand and even harder
to see. You will need to believe in faith and yourself. Your unseen force will
allow you to take flight within your faith. You will begin to feel and see
life’s miracles as faith. Your faith will provide you with the power to move
forward to and experience the miracles in your life.
It is truly is about the journey of
your life and not the destination where true happiness and love exist. It is
about the unplanned moments with family when you can grow your connection. It
is unplanned moments when you meet a stranger that is a master in their craft.
It is in the unplanned moments when faith will push you to higher levels of
enlightenment and clarity of vision. Through trusting in the unseen force of
faith is when you will be provided your vision of the next steps. You will see
your next steps as clearly as looking at a Google Map destination. You will
know exactly how to grow your faith, your love of family, and your career in a
way that you could never see before.
Develop your process and faith that is
in alignment. Keep it simple and repeat and repeat. Far too often in our
personal and business lives, we make our initial plan of success complex, and
then we become lost. We lose the power of the updrafts of our faith. We begin
to sink lower into our depths of despair. We lose sight of what had been so
evident at a higher level of our being and forget about the simple acts that
had lifted us so high. Where do you feel your sense of faith is? Do you have
your clarity of vision? Have you tapped into the unseen force of faith? Do you
believe you, too, can feel the power of faith? If not, when are you going to
start? What can you use as your tow plane to begin your growth?
Follow the nudges that God provides
you, as there will be a Trevor waiting for you on a bench. He will be waiting
to give you a gift that will help transform your life into something you never
thought was possible. He will provide you with clarity that you never knew
existed. He will allow you to look forward to creating your future successes
instead of focusing on your past failures. All you have to do is to take the
first step to grow your flight of faith. As you move forward, you will come
around a corner, and your “Trevor” will be sitting in the shade waiting for
you.
