What?  You say there’s no God?  You say my faith is just an illusion, like some kind of magic feather in a children's Disney movie that has no power?  Or something I’ve just been brain washed to believe? You’ve got to be joking!  I like the analogy of having a magic feather, but this is not the kind of magic feather you hold onto, it holds you, forever.

I was three when I asked Jesus to come into my heart.  I remember a few years later, walking around during the day and sleeping at night, thinking He was right there next to me.  I talked to Him and trusted Him.  I loved Him with all my heart. 

As children sometimes have imaginary friends, mine was certainly pretty special.  Was He really there?  I don’t know.  But I think somehow He was. What followed would be a life-time of communication and trust.  I’m about to turn 38, which might as well be 40.  So I guess I’ve lived long enough to tell you for sure, this isn't an illusion.

I won’t be jumping off any buildings to see if I can fly like the little elephant in that Disney movie, but I know my ‘magic feather’ is real, and He will get me through whatever He wants me to get through, period.  If I’m guilty of being wrong about spiritual matters, I’d rather be guilty of giving God too much credit, than not enough.  How about you? 

Although I don’t remember at what exact age these events happened, I do remember my magic feather was watching over me, when...

I was out late at night, walking around the neighborhood, when I shouldn’t have been.  A car with two men slowed down, then pulled over to my friend and I.  We ran into the darkness, scared to death.  We got away.

When I was cooking over the stove and my mother called me from the other room, just seconds before the pan exploded.  I was safe.

I was in the 6th grade getting ready for school, when the curtain burst into flames from the electrical outlet behind me.  I was ironing my clothes on the bed, just a foot away.  Although some of my most prized possessions were lost in the fire, not a hair on my head was harmed.

I must have been around 12 or 13, when another friend and I were swimming at a lake.  Then everything went black.  I remember swimming up, trying to reach the top again.  Swimming, swimming, got to get there.  We had been run over by a boat. It was cold, I slept all day, but I’m alive.

Some time passed, I was in a car accident, but no big deal.  Just a small hole in my knee from hitting the dash board, and a big knot on my forehead from hitting the windshield.  I think I was wearing my seat belt, I can’t remember.  I was okay, until I saw the huge bump on my forehead in the mirror, that was scary. 

I awoke at 3:00 a.m., my cat had made a noise, I think.  Just a moment in the bathroom and back to sleep I went.  In the morning I went downstairs, ready for work.  Shocked to find the living room phone off the hook and stuffed under a pillow, then seeing the sliding doors open and the sheer curtain drifting in and out with the breeze from outside.  I had been robbed.  The police arrived and checked things out, they said the burglar had probably been armed… they usually are if they break in while people are at home.  I must have scared them off when I was walking around upstairs, at 3:00 a.m.

That same year, I was diagnosed with cancer.  At the age of 19.  The treatment was even worse, I wanted to die.  But my magic feather wouldn’t hear of it.

But even more than these life-threatening experiences, my magic feather has been with me through all the years of normal wear and tear that come to many of us.  You know… divorced parents, family difficulties, job losses, financial troubles, difficult pregnancies, job transfers, selling houses a year after we moved in (happened to us twice), and so many surgeries and trips to the ER we’ve lost count. 

If life’s experiences are preparing us for what lies ahead, I think I’d better turn around.  

Na, not me.  Why would we give up when we’ve made it this far?  I’m determined to finish this race and bring a lot of people with me... with our magic feather still leading in front, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I hope to see you there!

 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” 
Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)