I woke up with prophets and kites in my head, don't ask.
I can't help but be suspicious that I probably unconsciously plagarized this idea from some half-remembered church talk or something...but for what it's worth here's the latest early morning ramble.
***
" Kite "
When the prophet woke up to hear God speaking to him, it wasn't quite what he was expecting. Most prophets who are woken up out of the middle of the night by God's voice are called to mighty deeds, to preach repentance, to save souls, to thunder and shine and inspire.
God said " Go my son and fly a kite "
" Pardon Lord? "
" Go and fly a kite. "
The prophet tapped the side of his ear and pondered this. " Lord are you sure you're not saying something like ' interpret Pharoah's dream' or ' preach to the people of Nineveh '? " he asked.
And because the Lord is patient, the Lord only sighed and said, " I am sure. Go my son and fly a kite and I shall not say it again. "
And because the prophet was a prophet he of course immediately got out of bed, threw on his robes and his wife woke up and asked " Dear where are you going? "
" God told me to go fly a kite. "
" Oh alright then, " and because she was the wife of a prophet and his beloved and understood these things, she rolled over and went back to sleep.
So the prophet took his son's kite and went out on a grassy hill in the middle of the night and it was of course a beautiful moonlit night with a strong breeze, the sort of breeze that goes right through you and awakens you on some forgotten level of your soul and he unspooled the kite string and let the breeze catch the kite and bring it up, up, up into the starlit sky. Flying a kite, he admitted to himself after he had been doing this for a while, was sort of fun but he was still puzzled as to why it would merit God speaking to him.
It was then God spoke to him again and said " Let out more string "
The prophet did so and watched the kite soar to unbelievable heights. And God spoke again and said, " Let out all the string "
So the prophet let out all the string and the wind carried the kite almost beyond his sight. It caused a sort of childish thrill in the prophet to see the kite up so high and he wondered what it must be like to be there in the sky looking down on the world.
Then God spoke the third time and said " Cut the string. "
The prophet tapped his ear and said " Sorry Lord? Cut the string? But the kite will fly off and my son shan't be too happy about that..." He heard God sigh again, that heavy patient sigh and the prophet reconsidered things and then cut the string. The kite of course flew off and the prophet watched it sadly wondering what in the world he was going to tell his son the next day.
" Walk home, " said the Lord. The prophet was feeling tired about this time so this was something that was easy to obey. He walked home, still not understanding but confident that in some way things would be made clear to him and when he got home he saw the reckless wind had carried the kite along until the kite became stuck and tangled in a tree near his house.
" Oh bother, " he thought ruefully and that was when God spoke to him again and said:
" People need life-lines. " And then the prophet understood, although some part of him still worried about how to get the kite out of the tree.
***
" Kite "
When the prophet woke up to hear God speaking to him, it wasn't quite what he was expecting. Most prophets who are woken up out of the middle of the night by God's voice are called to mighty deeds, to preach repentance, to save souls, to thunder and shine and inspire.
God said " Go my son and fly a kite "
" Pardon Lord? "
" Go and fly a kite. "
The prophet tapped the side of his ear and pondered this. " Lord are you sure you're not saying something like ' interpret Pharoah's dream' or ' preach to the people of Nineveh '? " he asked.
And because the Lord is patient, the Lord only sighed and said, " I am sure. Go my son and fly a kite and I shall not say it again. "
And because the prophet was a prophet he of course immediately got out of bed, threw on his robes and his wife woke up and asked " Dear where are you going? "
" God told me to go fly a kite. "
" Oh alright then, " and because she was the wife of a prophet and his beloved and understood these things, she rolled over and went back to sleep.
So the prophet took his son's kite and went out on a grassy hill in the middle of the night and it was of course a beautiful moonlit night with a strong breeze, the sort of breeze that goes right through you and awakens you on some forgotten level of your soul and he unspooled the kite string and let the breeze catch the kite and bring it up, up, up into the starlit sky. Flying a kite, he admitted to himself after he had been doing this for a while, was sort of fun but he was still puzzled as to why it would merit God speaking to him.
It was then God spoke to him again and said " Let out more string "
The prophet did so and watched the kite soar to unbelievable heights. And God spoke again and said, " Let out all the string "
So the prophet let out all the string and the wind carried the kite almost beyond his sight. It caused a sort of childish thrill in the prophet to see the kite up so high and he wondered what it must be like to be there in the sky looking down on the world.
Then God spoke the third time and said " Cut the string. "
The prophet tapped his ear and said " Sorry Lord? Cut the string? But the kite will fly off and my son shan't be too happy about that..." He heard God sigh again, that heavy patient sigh and the prophet reconsidered things and then cut the string. The kite of course flew off and the prophet watched it sadly wondering what in the world he was going to tell his son the next day.
" Walk home, " said the Lord. The prophet was feeling tired about this time so this was something that was easy to obey. He walked home, still not understanding but confident that in some way things would be made clear to him and when he got home he saw the reckless wind had carried the kite along until the kite became stuck and tangled in a tree near his house.
" Oh bother, " he thought ruefully and that was when God spoke to him again and said:
" People need life-lines. " And then the prophet understood, although some part of him still worried about how to get the kite out of the tree.