LEARNING TO FLY

Reading the responses today I thought of this illustration, hopefully it will convey the message I felt while reading.

Once upon a time in the land of ducks there was a small Duck church called Little Pond First Baptist Church. The good ducks of Little Pond went to church every Sunday to hear Pr. Pekin’s sermon. One Sunday, After three glorious verses of “I’ll Fly Away,” Pr. Pekin stood and began his message saying, “Flock, we are blessed to have wings.” To which Mr. Mallard exclaimed, “Amen!” Pr. Pekin continued, “With our wings we can reach safety, We can fly south in the winter and return in the spring.” Mr. Hookbill cried, “Halleluiah!” The Pr. Continued, “we can fly travel great distances with our wings with nothing in our way but beautiful sky!” Mrs. Loon nodded sharply her consent. “Yes, the good Lord sure knew what He was doing when he gave us wings! Amen?” continues the pastor, “what a blessing to have wings. All of the congregation exclaimed hearty amens to this and at the end of the service all thanked the pastor and silently walked home.

Did you get it? They WALKED home! My frustration with some of these responses is that several of the authors agree and say the hymn is such a beautiful tool, and the worship leader may never forget its use, or the hymnal is full of deep singable texts, yet, if everyone is on the same page of how the hymnal is such a wonderful gift, how come I haven’t heard it? Are we still walking home? Or are we learning to fly?