Fly

At some point in our lives most of us will have a dream about flying.

This dream isn’t rooted to any one culture or people group; it is something that seems to be buried subliminally into our very subconscious that we are not just earth walkers.

In Greek mythology Daedalus constructed a pair of wings for his son Icarus and himself that they may be able to escape from the island of Crete where they were imprisoned in the the Labyrinth. The story goes that the young Icarus was full of pride and rejected his father’s advice of flying neither too high nor too low; he flapped his merry way up too high and found that the sun had melted the wax holding the feathers together. So overcome with his his own freedom and greatness he was too late in noticing the feathers until he began plummeting to the sea and his death.

Leonardo da Vinci was one of those people who was ridiculously gifted in way too many areas. He was like an exploding experiment of wisdom and talent; to quote the Wikipedia page:

15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath whose areas of interest included invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography. He has been variously called the father of paleontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time.[1] Sometimes credited with the inventions of the parachute,helicopter and tank,[2][3][4] his genius epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal.

These people looked into the endless possibilities of their world and imagined what could be achieved. Had Leonardo lived another hundred years accompanied by his contemporary Michelangelo, they may just have achieved some of these great things that they dreamt of.

My core thought this morning was that wings are made to fly. Daedalus (or the author of the original story) had that same thought. Of course we now know that winged flight for humans of the feathered variety is out of the question. Generations of failed attempts and the yearly Red Bull challenge attests to this. But thanks to the Orville brothers and men like them we now have mechanised flight; it comforts me to know that the dreams and ideas of men like Leonardo came good in succeeding generations.

It pains me that the only point of reference that most people have with names like Michelangelo and Leonardo is that of four green ninja turtles living in a sewer with a rat.

The recurring thought in these weeks is that of the exploration of our own treasure. Repetition is no chore the me because it is only by the continued hearing of something that the idea takes root. You can purchase a ticket and fly to wherever on the planet that you desire; you cannot jump off a cliff and flap your way there!

Birds were made to fly, and if I can fly in my dreams then I have some degree of enjoying that freedom in the original virtual reality zone.

But when I awake and find myself grounded again I of necessity must find an outlet for my true gifts. The creative streak that you see in others is not to be envied; my wife is the most creative person that I know and her passion has rubbed off on to me over the years. As a team we have reconstructed a wrecked house, her ideas and my hands have made it what it is today.

You are not Leonardo da Vinci, but in your bag of gifts is something that your world needs, if you keep it hidden you are robbing yourself and others.