high flight...

by John Magee

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings,
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth,
Of sun-split clouds- and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of- wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hovering there
I've chased the shouting wind along and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

*

This is one of my favourite poems. It's quite short, but the amazing images and feelings it conjures in me make it special. I guess it's because it sounds a resonant chord in me for freedom. But what is freedom I wonder? Free to do whatever one wishes? Free to be oneself?

Though I long for earthly freedom, I must not forget what is unseen. Indeed, what is unseen is eternal and all the more precious. I am free in Christ - free from slavery of sin, free from guilt, free from punishment of death, free to grow into the person God made me to be.

Lord, grant me patience and obedience and help me keep my eyes on what is eternal!