The Stranglehold of Unbelief

Aslan says, "They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they can not be taken out."

This is from "Prince Caspian". As we sit Sunday after Sunday in church we seek a man we can believe in so we can have a place to serve and be "used by God". Is this what a loving Father expects from His children? Is this how we treat our children? We line them up and try to see in them something that can be used for our own good? No wonder they rebel as teenagers.

This is hindsight for me. I see all my parenting mistakes in retrospect. Trying to get the children to perform, though not for me, but so they can have a fulfilling life and be able to serve God.
I wanted perfection in their innermost parts. Doh!

They have chosen cunning instead of belief. What a picture of manipulation and stroking the ego.

Open Parachute and Freefall in Jesus

I was reading some Google spots trying to figure out how to get this blog to the top and ended up thinking about parachutes. Before the parachute opens it's called "freefalling" and the feeling (I assume, because I have never done it) is exhileration at the highest level. Then of course you have to eventually open the parachute before landing.
But wouldn't it be cool not to have to open the parachute? And then you could just touch down light as a feather?
This is similar to the experience of leaving a church building behind (not the church because we are the church). It feels like jumping out of the plane and descending at a high rate of speed toward the ground. But eventually the parachute (Jesus) opens and lets us down to earth softly and we want to do it again...and again...and again. Like a child who is twirled around in his father's arms...do it again, Daddy.