Why ‘Flying in the Spirit’?

I’ve called my blog ‘Flying in the Spirit’ because the parallels between the Christian faith and flying are quite remarkable. You see, I’m a man of faith and I’m also a Pilot. I have a deep faith in Jesus Christ, and I also fly light aircraft for a hobby.

Flying is one of the most amazing things that we can do as humans. Flying in light aircraft is worlds apart from flying in big commercial jets – and I have done both. The sense of freedom in light aircraft is awesome; you can feel every bump and you can see everything that’s going on around you. It’s fun, it’s thrilling, it’s awe-inspiring and it’s simply breathtaking. Joy, adventure, freedom and challenge.  And sometimes you’re on the ground, looking up at another aeroplane in the sky wishing you were ‘up there’….

Walking with God is like that too. Excitement, fun, thrills, the unexpected, the breathless joy and awe and wonder….and it’s breathtaking! What an adventure is the adventure of faith! And Jesus came to set us free from the restrictive confines of religion, to set us free to be who God intended us to be, to be led and formed by Holy Spirit in the ‘glorious freedom of the Children of God’. This is why the life of the believer is supposed to be like flying – Flying in the Spirit!

Flying – and walking with God – each take you out of your natural element (or one could indeed say that they give you an entirely new ‘natural element’!), and enable you to see things from a totally different perspective. Your understanding, and your worldview, change immeasurably for the better. You go around with a grin on your face half the time. You develop a sense of wonder like no other. You develop a fascination and an immersion in things that you simply never dreamed possible. Exploration of the things of God, and exploration of the possibilities of flight, are pastimes that you will simply never exhaust. It’s vast, it’s freedom, it’s fresh air….. And the passion…..the passion for God and for flying…..they exist in parallel “…and running through [his life] like two beautiful, singing silver wires, his twin loves – [flying] and Jesus” (from The Final Boundary by Adrian Plass, paraphrased*) – and there’s nothing at all wrong with having a passion for something that God has given you the passion for. I use my flying to bless people who would not otherwise get the chance to see the world from above…..

And there’s also the training, the discipline, the courage, the discovery, exploration and danger of a life where you’re letting go and trusting in a force that you can’t see, to hold you up. There are so many more parallels but these will do to be going on with.

Look, we were made to be excited and to enjoy things, and to enjoy God. He’s not all stuffy as so many of his ‘people’ make him out to be. He’s living, vibrant, simply buzzing with life. Some of my posts will reflect this ‘life is for living’ approach – because it is. Jesus came to bring ‘Life in all its fulness’. Life in the Spirit. Flying in the Spirit.


* In ‘The Final Boundary’, the character in the story loves Cricket – and Jesus. Hee hee.