Mind wide open

I love to cry. Not in public, of course. But when I’m on my own, there’s nothing quite as refreshing as a good cry. It’s not something I can produce on demand, mind you — it usually comes from a good movie or book. Occasionally from a song. And sometimes, when I’m in tune with life, from thinking about death. (I don’t mean that in a morbid sense at all, but rather like dewdrops falling from leaves, if you get my drift.)

I just finished watching Bridge to Terabithia. Wow. I knew what was coming — I read the book a few months ago — and yet it wasn’t any easier. (Don’t worry, no spoilers here.) It’s very well done and it just earned a secure spot on the list of my favorite movies. Yes, it’s sad, but that’s one of the reasons why it’s on my list. (Not to mention the characterization and acting and cinematography and pretty much everything else were superb.) I feel more alive for having watched it, and I want to be a better person. (Whereas I recently watched The Last Mimzy, which was an utter and abhorrent waste of time, both narratively and aesthetically. Blech.)

That’s not a note I want to end on, so we’ll go back to Terabithia, a movie that was most certainly not lame. It was beautiful. Tender and heartwarming, too. In fact, I can’t even give words to the stirrings in my heart right now. And so I’m going to close my eyes and keep my mind wide open…

Ben,

I am thankful for the deep emotional and sentimental side of you. It makes your blog and photos so meaningful in ways you can not know.

I love your cloud photos that came with this posts’ email. The cloud set on flickr evoked so much emotion in me. I grew up in Kansas City (tornado alley); I loved and feared the storms. I can remember singing “Master the Tempest is Raging” in my mind as I prayed for safety through the storms.

There was one particular incident when I, as a new pilot needing cross country hours for my commercial certificate, had flown two pilots to Chicago to pick up a twin engine airplane. There was something wrong with the plane so the purchase didn’t go through. On the way back to Kansas City, all of a sudden the pilot in the back seat said, “I’ll take it from hear.” He climbed over the seat and told me to squeeze into the passenger’s seat with the other pilot and be prepared to take over. He turned the plane around and headed back east muttering, “Where was that airport, where was that airport?” He spotted a small country airstrip and quickly landed the plane (65 mph.)

No sooner than he touched down both pilots had the doors open and were out the door as soon as they could hold the wings (we were in a Cessna) and run. We got to a tie down and they barely got the wings chained when a storm front hit. There were 13 tornados that night. The clouds in the storm front went all the way to the ground on the horizon. It just looked like a dark cloudy day at dusk with the night coming on. I was too inexperienced to understand what I was seeing and the weather report didn’t warn of the danger. If the twin engine had been good, I would have been flying back solo and my life would have been taken that night.

There have been so many times that God has intervened on my behalf during the storms of weather and the storms of life. The cloud photo set reminded me of God’s love for me. Thanks for sharing!

Right back atcha, with the flying story. :) And I’m glad you like the cloud photos. I’ve just uploaded a bundle more, as it happens, and I suspect it’ll be a continually growing collection, because God makes them new every day. :)