I'm Falling Baby Through the Sky

A few weeks ago, I finally read the book Divergent by Veronica Roth.

I don't know why it took me so long to get to it. Too many books, not enough time I guess.

Anyways. I loved it. As far as young adult novels about a future dystopian society books go, Hunger Games is still my favorite. However, this is a close second. It also takes place in Chicago, which is awesome. There were moments I would look at the cover to see the Chicago skyline and I would get really homesick but also super happy at the same time. Apparently that's possible.



There's this scene towards the beginning of the book where she has to jump off a roof. Not just a roof, probably a skyscraper. She has no idea if anything will catch her and if she'll live or not. But she has to do it anyways.

She does. She can't see anything at the bottom.

Spoiler alert (but not really since the book goes on for a million more pages): there's a net at the bottom.

I'm high above the city

I'm standing on the ledge

The view from here is pretty

And I step off the edge

Ever jump off of a roof?

Maybe not a literal roof. But we're all standing on some sort of ledge at one point or another in our lives. It could be changes in our lives like moving, graduation, transferring schools, relationships, etc. Maybe it's internal struggles like anger, depression, insecurity, or self-doubt. Maybe it's a choice we make - or a choice that was made for us.

I've been thinking about jumping off of ledges lately.

And now I'm falling

Baby through the sky

Through the sky

I'm falling baby through the sky

It's my calling 

Baby don't you cry

Don't you cry

I'm falling down through the sky

To the street where I'm from

Oh Broadway here I come

You don't know what's at the bottom. Maybe to an extent you can see through the haze and darkness outlines of what's to come, but you really don't know what's going to happen once you jump off the ledge.

I've realized this:

Somewhere between the ledge and hitting the ground, that's when you learn to trust God.

Because you literally have no other choice.

The pressure it increases

The closer that I get

I could almost go to pieces

But I'm not quite there yet

When you think about it, in the Bible they never really had a choice either. Take Noah for example. Either he builds an ark because God told him to, or risk there actually being a flood and drowning. Not much of a choice there.

Or Joseph. He gets into trouble, his brothers try to kill him, he goes to jail, etc. By trusting God, what did he have to lose? 

Or Mary. An angel tells her she's going to have a baby. She's going to get pregnant no matter what, does she really have a choice but to trust God that it's going to be okay?

See I've been braving crazy weather

Drownin' out my cries

I'll pull myself together

I'm focused on the prize

The thing is, Jesus is our net. When we jump off the ledge, Jesus is the net that's going to catch us. We might not see him. We might not know he's there. But he's going to catch us when we fall. 

"I lift my eyes to the mountains- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you- the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going now and forevermore." - Psalm 121

Will I remain the same or will I change a little bit?

Will I feel broken or totally complete?

Will I retain my name when I'm the biggest hugest hit?

Or will I blend in with the rest of the street?

I don't know what ledge you're standing on. But at some point, you'll have to jump. It's scary, and you have no idea what's going to happen. But the jump will need to come. 

The people all are pointing

I bet they'd never guess

That the saint that they're anointing 

Is frightened of the mess

And even though I fear it

I'm playing all my cards

Baby, you are gonna hear it

When I give them my regards

But he hasn't forgotten you. He hasn't fallen asleep on the job. Sometimes people disapoint us, or events happen that we can't control and we blame God and say he abandoned us. Which isn't true.

We were just putting our trust in the wrong thing.

 He'll catch you. Just jump.

And the last thing I hear

As the impact draws near

Is it a scream or a cheer?

Well, never mind I'll never find out

'Cause Broadway I am here

*Adapted from a chapel I led at Saxony Lutheran High school April 29, 2013

* Song lyrics from the song "Broadway Here I Come" by Joe Iconis as sung by Jeremy Jordan for the TV show Smash