Pirouetting Plastic

I saw it floating in the air.
White and billowy, it seemed to move so effortlessly.
I could not tell what it was, since I was much too far back.
However, as I continued on the road, it became clearer.

It was a large piece of plastic.
It was probably wrapped around something on the back of a truck.
It more than likely got loose as the truck traveled on the 55 mile per hour road.
Something was no longer wrapped; something decided it would rather dance.

Dance was the perfect way to describe what I saw.
The white plastic soared up in the air on the breeze.
It would come down ever so gently and touch the top of a car.
That simple touch sent it soaring upward again.

The dance steps were repeated from one car to the next.
The white plastic even touched the center median at one point before flying upward again.
The plastic pirouetted from one car to the next.
It even got caught on an antenna for a time.

By the time I reached the area of the dance, it soared upward again.
It crossed the median and decided to dance with the traffic going the other way.
For some strange reason, I was sad about that.
For some strange reason, I wanted to pull over and watch the dance some more.

I remember when my children were little, we happened to get a movie at the library.
We brought home, The Red Balloon, a 1956 French film.
It was written, directed, and produced by Albert Lamorisse.
Lamorisse’s own children are featured in the film.

The film won a Oscar for Lamorisse for writing the best original screenplay in 1956.
It also won an award that year at the Cannes Film Festival.
My children were mesmerized by the story, which has a musical score but no dialogue.
There was something wonderful about following a red balloon around the streets of Paris.

The Red Balloon tells the story of Pascal who finds a red balloon on his way to school.
Paschal plays with his new toy but soon realizes that the balloon has a mind of its own.
The red balloon follows him and will not rise, as balloons do, so it can go wherever Pascal goes.
Even as young as they were, my children knew that balloons float; this one stay grounded.

Pascal’s grandmother will not let the balloon into their apartment.
The balloon floats outside his bedroom window.
The balloon causes problems when it enters Pascal’s school.
The balloon cause problems when it follows Pascal and his grandmother into church.

People have their own ideas about the meaning behind the French film.
I always appreciated it simply on the level of an imaginative story.
There is childlike wonder as you watch a red balloon soar over the Parisian streets.
Of course, there are always antagonists in a plot, and this story is no exception.

It is a movie that should be viewed and pondered.
It has stayed with me all these years.
As I watched the plastic dancing across the traffic lanes, I thought of the red balloon.
The plastic seemed to have a mind of its own.

The last I saw of the plastic, it was still soaring in my rear view mirror.
Did it make someone else smile?
Did it make someone else a bit wistful as they watched the freedom with which it soared?
Did it eventually get caught on something, which ended its flight?

I can dream.
I can imagine.
I can even try to write a story on the travels of the pirouetting plastic.
I will never know for sure.

Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (Revelation 14:6,7)

We have a Gospel to proclaim.
We are given the charge to go and tell.
We each have our own way of going and telling, though the Gospel remains the same.
We each have our own strengths and abilities as we take this God-given task seriously.

There are so many who do not know.
There are so many who have not heard.
God breathed His Word to men so that it could be written down.
God’s Word has been protected and preserved through the ages.

We do not do a perfect job when we go and tell.
We may get nervous.
We may think that evangelism is not one of our strengths.
However, is we are in Christ, we have His Holy Spirit inside us helping us as we go and tell.

Yet, one day, an angel will proclaim the Gospel perfectly.
There will be no missteps and no nervousness.
Not one syllable of the Gospel will be proclaimed incorrectly.
The eternal Gospel will go forth, perfectly clear to all peoples and nations.

Never again can someone say that they did not know.
Never again can someone say that they did not hear.
The Gospel will dance and float and pirouette from one corner of the earth to the next.
The Gospel will go forth without hindrance.

The Gospel will go forth perfectly since it is the will of God that it is heard.
We are to go and to tell even if we are nervous or unsure.
The Holy Spirit is with us to make sure the Gospel floats on the waves of sound and is heard.
One piece of plastic reminded me.