I was thinking, when was the last time I truly enjoyed movement, the pure exhilaration, the lightness of perfect synchrony? A story came to me…
Walking, nowhere in particular, I come upon a just my size, red, bouncy ball – you know, the kind you might have had as a child. I straddle the handle and jump and bounce, and leap and bounce, and push harder bounce higher…the extra assist from the bounce of the ball rewards the extra effort with extra heighth and extra distance….
…and it’s thrilling, feeling the flow between the body, the ball, the rush of wind created across the arc of each bounce. Joyously, I gather more confidence – higher, higher, further and further, I feel I’m flying and…I let go of the ball as my trajectory flings me up higher than the treetops.
Sensibly, I should be worried about cushioning gravity’s pull back, but in this state of near ecstasy, I simply see a beautiful grass meadow below and anticipate how wonderful it will feel running as easily as a gazelle with the cool silky grass under my feet.
I barely notice the transition, as I land so lightly the force barely bends my knees. I’m off, running wildly, effortlessly, aware of the freshness passing through my nose into the lungs, the solid support underneath each foot fall, the sensation of being the wind, it brushing my skin.
Now, in front of me a lake, bigger than a pond so that I can’t see the other side. With a whoop, I dive in. The refreshing brace of coolness surrounding me, the near weightlessness, like a soft embrace cradling me, the sense of flowing, of dancing with the water is enchanting, mesmerizing.
But the far shore line comes into view and I’m struck by a pull to see the other side. Powerfully, I propel my body through the water – arms cleaving a path, legs scissoring the push forward, the stretch of dynamic forces all the length of the body, generating a wondrous, deep glowing joy.
And now closer to the shore, the pull is so strong, I don’t even need an effort to arrive. As I step out of the water, onto the shining, welcoming path, I see coming toward me His presence. The bliss eclipses every experience, everything I’ve ever imagined. I am, with my Father, my Creator, my Source.
I see the story as a gentle reminder to be clear about the goal – nothing that can be experienced as a body will compare to the communion with the Father.
As it is written in 1 Corinthinians :”Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”