It’s Time to Soar!

A Word in Season

I’m not one to give prophetic words generally, but yesterday a friend shared something from Emma Stark. The word was titled ‘Soaring Above’

A snapshot…

“Behold, I have given you an extraordinary ability to fly above the storm with an unusual strength to bear much weight. I will give you a long and sustainable vision and the grace to see things from a new perspective. Note the change that will begin to happen a heavenly current of air will materialise under your wings. You will begin to sense supernatural strength lifting your body, mind and spirit.

Look up.

Spread out your wings.

Soar.”

Good word…

Then I got another one on the same day in my inbox from public theologian Lisa Sharon Harper. The subject? ‘Remembering We Can Fly’!

In it she shares ‘The story of how her self penned "Fly (aka Fortune's Song)" came to be…’

As I listened to the track and read the story behind it, I felt the ‘heavenly current of air’ that Emma Stark had written about. It was ushering me to a deeper season of hope. I sensed that this message wasn’t just for me.

It comes at a cost this flying business. It won’t always look like success to the world and you’ll most likely lose people along the way. But it will leave you with a joy unspeakable. Are you willing to say ‘I do’ to the challenge and never look back?

All of this brought to mind a special event that I attended last month. As we bid the Church of England’s first black female Priest farewell, the significance of her retirement sermon dovetailing Emancipation Sunday (July 30^th) was not lost on me. What a joy to witness a majority black congregation sing Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds’; Boney M’s rendition of Psalm 137: ‘By the Rivers of Babylon’ and Tina Turner’s ‘Simply The Best’ (I kid you not!) in such a historically traditional institution. As well as honouring someone who had committed themselves to serving and loving those on the margin’s; we were also celebrating ourselves. There was no requirement to divest of any signifiers that indicated our cultural heritage. No, our whole embodied selves was welcome at this joyous, yet bitter sweet occasion.

To celebrate who we are in our fullest sense (regardless of race, class, colour or creed) is to fly, to soar! To reimagine ourselves without the shackles of oppression and the history of trauma that insists on lodging itself in our DNA (and influences how we treat each other) is crucial in this hour. What would be possible if we knew the fullness of our true identity? If it wasn’t stolen and we were not lied to?

And this is where the question of reparations comes in. Another message dropped in my inbox today. This time from the research collective @Misogynoir2mishpat. Subject: Why Should Religious Scholars Care About Reparations? How can we not? These issues are inextricably linked to the Good News regarding the liberation for all.

Responding to Lisa Sharon Harper’s powerful song which picks up on the theme of Reparations @kingdomchild6392 comments:

‘This is so powerful!!! Every lie will be brought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ! Look! The pay that you with-held from the workers who mowed your fields cries out & outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the lord of Hosts. James 5:1-4’

It is written.

Selah.

Natasha Godfrey 2023 ©