“Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, –
And done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of —
Wheeled and soared and swung
high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there, I’ve chased the shouting wind along,
And flung
my eager craft through footless halls of air . . .
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew;
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and [sought] the face of God.”
In memory of the author: John Gillespie Magee, Jr. (b. June 9, 1922 – d. December 11, 1941); an American aviator with RCAF and son of Christian Missionaries.
I trust your flying in 2018 was memorable and I hope all your dreams of flight become reality in The New Year. Merry Christmas and Shalom.
References: Isa 58:14; PS 19:1; Ex 33:18-23; 2 Chr 7:14