I am learning to be content, to trust Him, to not be alarmed when disturbing things happen that interrupt the equilibrium of my world. This I’m calling Learning to Fly.
I’ve sat and watched birds flying many times. They soar through the sky with such grace it looks carefree and content. They are happy to soar, to glide effortlessly toward their destination. Of course I know its not as easy as it looks. Nothing ever is. I wasn’t born gifted. I wasn’t born perfect. Birds can’t fly automatically, they have to learn it. They have to take the falls and the tail winds. They have plunge into a headwind on take off in order to move, then wait for a tail wind to move them forward.
I’m fascinated by flight- tailwinds and headwinds especially.
here are some interesting notes on headwinds, tailwinds and crosswinds (from wikipedia.org of course!!):
In aeronautics, a headwind is favourable in takeoffs and landings.
In sailing, a headwind may make forward movement difficult, and necessitate tacking into the wind.
Headwind and Tailwind do not occur together in normal conditions.
A tailwind is a wind that blows in the direction of travel of an object. A tailwind increases the object’s speed and reduces the time required to reach its destination. In aeronautics, a tailwind is unfavourable in takeoffs and landings.
A crosswind is any wind that has a perpendicular component to the line or direction of travel. Inaviation, a crosswind is the component of wind that is blowing across the runway making landings and takeoffs more difficult than if the wind were blowing straight down the runway. If a crosswind is strong enough it may exceed an aircraft’s crosswind limit and an attempt to land under such conditions could cause structural damage to the aircraft’s undercarriage. Crosswinds can also occur when traveling on wet or slippery roads (snow, ice, standing water, etc.), especially with gusting conditions and vehicles that have a large side area such as vans and SUV. This can be dangerous for motorists because of the possible lift force created as well as causing the vehicle to change direction of travel. The safest way for motorists to deal with crosswinds is by reducing their speed to reduce the effect of the lift force and to steer into the direction of the crosswind.
Its interesting to note that the safest way to deal with crosswinds it not to change direction or stop. But simply to slow down and steer in the direction of the crosswind. I also find it interesting that headwinds are favourable in take-offs and landings. But, Tailwinds which aren’t favourable for take-off or landing, help get you some where faster.
I think this can be a picture of life. We keep trying to ride the Tailwind which can be dangerous when we try to land, but we forget the tough things, the trials, agitations which feel like headwinds are necessary to help us land and to help us take of. We might encounter crosswinds and instead of trying to stop suddenly, which could cause devastation by the sheer impact of a sudden stop, instead of trying to speed up to get out of the crosswind, we are to slow down, face that wind head on and steer into it, trudging slowly into the wind. I think God created the winds that way to teach us about life- not to run from problems and uncertainties, not to try to speed through life to get everything done. But to face life head on, even though we don’t know what to expect or what state we’ll be in when we reach the other side, we are simply to trust God that he’ll carry us through those crosswinds.
Lost Corner Orchard 