Helium Balloons

Sunday 10/20/2013 5:38 AM

Friday night I attended the football game at Valley Christian High School along with my son, his children and my son-in-law.  It was guys’ night out since our wives were either working or relaxing at home.  It was homecoming so at half time they had the regular festivities, which culminated in the team running back onto the field through a banner that had been filled with helium balloons.  When the banner broke the balloons began rising in the night sky, painting it as if a pointillist artist were using small dots of maroon and gold each trailing a similarly colored ribbon.  Some balloons rose quickly while others hovered near the ground, their rates of ascent predetermined by the volume of helium gas injected by the person who had filled the balloon and the length of the attached ribbon.  Initially the balloons were colliding with one another because of their close proximity but as they rose each one had a unique trajectory guided by a light breeze swirling above the field.

This morning I noticed a popped pink balloon with its pink ribbon attached lying on my doorstep.  I immediately wondered if it had been one of many balloons rising in the night sky or a single balloon given as a birthday gift to a little girl.  Did it pop because it rose to a height where the expanding gas could no longer be contained or had it struck a sharp twig in a tree?  I came inside and read Psalm 44 at the beginning of my devotional time.  It begins with these words, “We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago.  With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our ancestors; you crushed the peoples and made our ancestors flourish.  It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.”  I began to think of my life and what I have accomplished.  I like to think that my position as a math professor at Cerritos College was attained through my own hard work and perseverance.  These verses remind me that God is the one who has put me where I am.  He gave me the ability to do mathematics, gave me a supportive community to encourage me to pursue my education, gave me a strong work ethic that was modeled for me by mentors and provided me with the opportunity to teach at Valley Christian and Cerritos College.  There is a sense in which I am like a helium balloon, with my abilities the helium injected by God, and my life directed by the zephyr of the Holy Spirit.  Everything I have is a gift from God.

The balloon on my doorstep had popped and, in my analogy, that would signify death.  Earlier this week a neighbor living two doors north of my house died.  Earlier this year she was diagnosed with a tumor in her brain and evidently she succumbed to its growth.  I also found out that my next-door neighbor to the south recently discovered that her breast cancer had recurred and it has spread to her brain and her lymph system.  Yesterday her daughter told us that she had been placed in hospice care, had contracted pneumonia and was not expected to live long.  I wondered if the popped pink balloon represented her life, ended by a debilitating disease.  Psalm 44 ends with these words, “We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.  Rise up and help us; rescue us because of your unfailing love.”  My neighbor, Mary Lynn, is being brought down to the dust.  Her body will soon cling to the ground like the popped pink balloon on my doorstep.  Thankfully God does not leave her and her family without hope.  Because of his unfailing love he has rescued her and will raise her up to be with him.  I pray that her family and those she loves will be comforted by this fact.