Recreation as Worship?
Using our leisure activities as opportunities to glorify our Creator God
I nudge forward, steadying my wing against the gentle breeze while keeping the angle of attack at nearly zero. The wooden ramp upon which I am perched is a masterpiece in form and function. Crafted for just this purpose at this mountain cliff location, it fairly beckons me to run forward and cast myself off its gentle downward curve while trusting the Dacron and aluminum structure into which I am securely hooked to carry me skyward.
The volunteers who are assisting me at my left and right wingtips call out conditions and notify me when the area is free of other hang glider traffic. A perfect nose-in headwind wafts by, I yell “Clear!” and commence my forward run. Immediately the wing begins tugging upward, but I remember to keep my nose at a neutral angle so as not to lift off and stall before gaining appropriate airspeed. The ramp falls off below. My feet lose contact with its surface and…I’m airborne!
As my kite drifts out over the patchwork valley, and as I take note of the landscape almost 2,000 feet below, the magnitude of the moment begins to sink in. I initiate a gentle turn to the right while zipping into my harness as the search for some kind of lift captures my attention.
With this mountain launch I can check off one more item on the list of goals I wished to accomplish as a hang glider pilot. In addition to foot launching off a cliff site, I had already achieved numerous flights of more than an hour long, I had earned my aerotow rating (becoming airborne by towing behind an ultralight aircraft), and I had flown other sites outside my home state of Ohio. Still left on my list were two goals…making a flight of more than 10 miles from my takeoff point, and climbing to an altitude of at least 1 mile above the ground. The longest cross country flight I ever managed in my flying career was only 8 miles, but I did climb to 6,200 feet above the ground during another flight before I quit for good.
What’s the point? What does it matter? I’ve pondered this often, especially during those times that leaving home for a day of flying seemed to produce more anxiety than joy, and strained more relationships than it bolstered. Even so, during times of doubt, some force always seemed to pull me forward, and the satisfaction I felt after a successful (read non-eventful) day of flying was hard to match. Hang gliding can be a solitary sport even though it takes a community of dedicated enthusiasts to maintain a steady flying calendar. But a non-flying family member typically must sit through hours of mundane inactivity in order to accompany a pilot during an active day of hang gliding.
I have justified my passion for flight by striving to see it as a form of worship. One way to exalt the Lord as Creator is to explore his handiwork in as many ways as possible. Ever increasing technological achievements have made it feasible for rank-and-file humans to experience aspects of the created world previously reserved for creatures whose frames were custom-built to inhabit these nether regions. It’s one thing to admire a soaring eagle as he circles to climb to the clouds; it’s another to “mount up with wings” (Isaiah 40:31) alongside him as if we were meant to be there.
One way to exalt the Lord as Creator is to explore his handiwork in as many ways as possible.
Unfortunately, unlike the eagles, a hang glider pilot cannot flap his wings in order to gain altitude when lift is elusive. My search for thermal activity proved fruitless on this particular day so, with the loss of altitude, I began setting up for a landing in a field reserved for this purpose at the base of the mountain. Soon I’d be safely on the ground, disappointed that I was unable to extend the flight, but satisfied with the awesome experience.
In what ways do you worship God through recreational pursuits? Are you able to set aside periodic feelings of selfishness and guilt as you chase excellence in your quest for new and fascinating adventures? Do you believe that God is pleased with your efforts?
Originally published at http://markthog.wordpress.com on February 28, 2020.