Why balloons are prophetic

Well ... at last the wait is over. Over 58 years and I'm writing my first Blog. The first of many, I hope. If you like it or even if you don't and especially if you have some helpful comments to make about it then please Tweet or Facebook or email me. Contact details are around.

First an ADVERT! My fourth book Creative Worship will be published by The Bible Reading Fellowship in March 2014. Weed it and reap!

The subject of my first Blog is the essence of my first book, Prophetic Balloon Modelling (still available on Amazon or direct from yours truly). I often carry modelling balloons around with me because of the effect they have on people. Remind me sometime to tell of the story of the balloons I modelled for some teenagers in a gents' toilet in Valetta. Seriously! This Blog will be longer than most but don't give up. Most of the others will be shorter.

Here's the reason balloons are prophetic ...

When I inflate a balloon I give away the most precious part of myself. I give my own life’s breath to fill that modelling balloon. When God first brought this to my attention it literally took my breath away! He does have a tendency to do that, you know. I think back to all the times that God has shown me something breathtaking. The vision he gave me on the day I was ordained. The lightning over the Grand Canyon and the majestic splendour of Niagara Falls. The wonder of holding my newly born children in my arms. The sight of my lovely wife emerging from Los Angeles airport. And whenever he speaks to me and tells me something or shows me something, that, like inflating a modelling balloon, takes my breath away! And, did I not read somewhere, that to “rest” is to “take breath”?

And to give someone the gift of a balloon model containing a precious part of myself. A shaped piece of biodegradable latex – just a balloon - yet is containing the very breath from my own body. Here is a picture of creation, of the God who makes something out of nothing and who then creates us in his own image. Here also is a picture of Jesus, who gives himself to us and for us, breathing out his last life’s breath on the Cross.

 Here also is a picture of the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, intangible and invisible until he fills and inspires and gives shape to those he inhabits. Here also is a picture of the precious gospel of the Kingdom; a free gift to give away to any that will receive it and yet containing at its heart the priceless gift of life. And all this in the foolishness of a balloon!

         When God spoke to me so foolishly all those years ago I wondered if I’d heard him right. Could all this really be? And yet, on so many occasions since, I’ve seen the prophetic power of the balloon model at work, at rest and at play. In the wonder of children with balloon hats, in the laughter of friends with poodle dogs, in the wide-eyed growing comprehension of fellow travellers examining their latex flower, in the tears of an old lady as she cradles her beautiful white swan. To each the balloon speaks and reveals God. Holy ridiculous and wholly wonderful!

         Foolish as it may seem, balloons remind me of the vital focus of Work, Rest and Play, for such balances and such models show all three. As I seek to proclaim the kingdom of God in words and works and wonders, the balloon models speak to me. As Gof or John inflates them, intending for them to be used, I see the value of work, its purpose and its goal, and whether your work is open heart surgery, cooking school dinners, typing up reports or blowing up balloons, you too can make work have meaning. Meaninglessness is probably the major contributor to stress and breakdown in the field of work. True value comes when work has purpose and is a means to an end and never an end in itself.

As the balloon becomes a toy, a plaything for a child or a talking point for an adult, I see the value of play and whether your play is scrabble or football, jigsaws or line dancing, you too can have fun as you play. Attempting to invest play with meaning, to regard it in the same way as we should work, is to lose the point entirely. Play is intended to be “meaningless” – for it is itself a goal and a destination. In the “foolish play” of worship we discover the staggering truth that God likes us as we are and calls us to come and play with him, delighting in the wonder of his laughter and love. Ultimately, we discover this is not Religion but Relationship and that the greatest relationship of all is with Him. 

 And when at last the balloon is still, lying silent upon the floor, I think of rest and the peace God intended we all should find in him. Or perhaps, in fancy, I might see that balloon released and, like my spirit, soar upward to heaven.

            Ah, well, . . . foolish reflections. You don’t have to be a clown to understand them, but if you are . . . 

[taken from Prophetic Balloon Modelling published by Eagle 2000.] Did I tell you, I still have some copies?