Deuteronomy 30:19 “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life!”
Larry Walters was a 33-year-old truck driver living near Los Angeles. On weekends he used to just sit around and watch TV. But this particular Saturday, he was bored with his usual routine, so he decided he wanted to do something. He went shopping and bought 42 weather balloons and a deck chair. Returning home, he anchored the chair to the ground with some ropes, and then tied the weather balloons to it. When all was ready, he ensconced himself in the chair, with his air gun nestled in his lap. He then cut the ropes, and rose steadily into the sky. Within minutes he had attained an altitude of 16,000 feet. The air traffic control tower at LA airport reported receiving a number of garbled and incredulous messages from different pilots along the lines of, “You’re not going to believe this, but there’s a man floating up here in a deck chair!” Soon Larry’s thirst for action seemed quenched, and he decided it was time to return to planet earth. He shot a number of balloons with his air gun and gradually floated downwards. Forty-five minutes later he landed at Long Beach, about seven miles from where he had taken off. His excursion made front page news, resulting in a Timex ad and an interview on The Tonight Show. Quizzed as to his motivation for doing it, Larry Walters replied, “I couldn’t just sit there – I had to do something!”
I’m not sure the outworking of Larry’s need to ‘do something’ was the best, but I resonate with his dissatisfaction of just sitting there! Let’s switch off the TV, get off the couch, and work out what choosing life looks like for us.
Father, that urge to ‘do something’ is from you. Show me what to do today, and in my life in general. Amen!
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