Zip Lining

    Last week Amanda and I headed off a much needed change of pace and setting.  We chose Copan for its history and to see the marvelous ruins still being excavated.  We also knew it was beautiful and a major attraction for many tourists.  We saw many of those attractions, tropical birds, museums, and ate in fine restaurants.  Despite nearly collapsing in the heat and humidity I thoroughly enjoyed our stay and was very glad we had chosen Copan.
   One of our options during those few days was to do a "canopy tour."  When I think of that term I immediately conjure pictures of a tropical rain forest just inches below the viewing area and a short and breezy flight over the tree tops.  If you fall there are trees barely beneath your feet to break your fall, right?  Not exactly!  This was 14 courses of yards, meters, and miles (REALLY!) of cable stretched tautly between valleys and over a river!  This was no granny or sissy site seeing event.
      I now know why they call it zip lining.  One zips along at break neck speed.  To slow down one does the intuitive opposite by pulling down on the cable behind you to break.  Before you go up to the top, you get outfitted with harness, cable, pulley, helmet and a very brief sample ride along a ten foot line that is pretty much horizontal.  OK.  Ready to go!  I feel what it is like to be weightless for 2 seconds and think I can do this!  After all, I used to enjoy roller coaster rides at Six Flags-even the completely 360 degree ones.  Well, the whole trip was breath taking, and I let loose with some squeals and shrieks and enjoyed heart pounding views of the Honduran mountain area around Copan.  The city and the ruins lay far beneath us.  There was enough air between the cable and us and the trees for a small plane to fly through.
.      I thought of my experiences on that zip line wondering what I can learn from them regarding my life.  How does it relate or compare to my experiences here in Honduras?  How does that inform my Christian life?  Suzy has told of swinging out over the precipice for God.  When there is a need, she does not first ask, can we do it?  How will we pay for it?  What will the cost be?  What hurdles must be jumped to accomplish it?  She says, where you lead, Lord, I will follow, and steps out in faith to do what God is calling her to do.  Her work and the LAMB mission is testament to her faith and God's leadership.  The lives saved and improved bear witness to God's love.
    My own experience here is different, yet very instructive for me.  I have been harnessed and helmeted in safety here, with guides to smooth the way through everything I have done or experienced here at Casa LAMB, in the schools, during shopping trips, running errands, even visiting Copan last week and riding that zip line and touring the ancient Mayan ruins.  I have never felt threatened or endangered in the least.  I knew that my harness was firmly buckled on and I was safe in God's hands.  I felt the prayers of my fellow parishioners back home and new friends here and sheltering arms around my shoulders at every turn.
    I think of Maribel and Fernando on their own again, trying to make it in a dangerous world, and
Francesca in her fragile home, robbed last week of her few possessions while staying in the hospital with her daughter.  I think of the Mayan Chorti children in their village, and the beggars on the streets of Tegucigalpa.  I think of the orphans and trafficked young girls locked away in misery and exploitation.   Where is their safety harness as they swing through the air with no solid ground under their feet?  Where is their shield and their helmet?  Where is their support?  Do they know there is a loving God who cares and wants them safe in His arms?  Where is their guide?  We each have a part to play in this work. Knowing that our safety harness is firmly buckled on in the arms of God's love, can we do less than step out in faith?