Pentecost.....

It's amazing how sometimes everything knits together to give a bigger picture sometimes. This weekend seems to have had a theme - but it's only in looking back over it that I can see it.
It started with Hot Air Ballooning (at last!!!) at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning. The balloon depends entirely on the wind currents, and it is the skill of the operator, causing it to rise or lower to catch the wind going in the desirable direction, which causes the balloon to have any direction at all.

Then, this morning, I drove a close friend out to the airport, to travel to England to live for a while. When she ticked the "leaving the country permanently" box, I cried, and again when she went through the gates. I will miss her a lot - we have had much common ground in our family histories, and shared a lot of hard times. The mastery of flight, and utilising the aerodynamics and lift and all that stuff, means she's now nearly in KL, and probably more than ready to hit the bed in her hotel.

And tonight we celebrated Pentecost. The imagery people often have is the flames, but I think of the rushing wind. During the course of the prayer stations, I thought of a poem I met in my youth, by Ulrich Shaffer, from Into your Light. I don't think I am remembering it correctly or completely, but here goes:

"I am persuaded by the dandelion
to take the wings of the updrift
to fly
to parachute into enemy territory
to fall to the ground
to be trampled on
to die
and so
to give birth to a whole generation of flyers."

from yesterday morning: