Kite flying as a sacrament of the Spirit

Some years ago on holiday at Poolewe, up the West coast of Scotland, near Ullapool, I was flying my kite. It wasn’t a fancy two string acrobatic stunt kite. It was an ordinary diamond shaped honest to goodness kite I’d had for years. And the sea breeze took it the full length of the string till it was a wee dot way up there. Then the string broke. And I took off along the beach in pursuit, trying to put my foot on the trailing string to recapture my kite. Twice I got my foot on it but the wind was too strong, and all I got was a sore foot. I gave up and the last my kite was seen it was heading out to sea………

Some time ago I was given the gift of a kite. I’ve never flown it yet. One of the costs of being too absorbed in doing busy stuff, is you forget to play. And it is years now since I played with a kite. Why should that occur to me at around 6.00 a.m. on a dark February morning? Not because the wind is blowing a gale outside – it’s too strong to fly a kite in anyway. But because I came across this in David Runcorn’s book, something I didn’t know:

Some Greek Orthodox communities mark the start of Lent as the first outdoor day of the year. Lent is the beginning of Spring. After the long death of winter, here is the first sign that new life is coming. We must go out to greet it. The community celebrates this day by climbing the nearest hill and flying kites on the fresh spring wind!

Always more important than what we turn from is what we turn to. Here we meet the Spirit enticing, driving, inspiring us in the struggle to turn from sin and be caught up into the adventure of divine love. (Page 133)

That new kite was a gift from people who know what’s good for me. And this weekend it’s going to become a sacrament of the Spirit, a way of yearning to be caught up into the adventure of divine love.

I’ve posted a full review of David Runcorn’s book,  Spirituality Workshop on the Scottish Baptist College Blog.