My dad wrote this to me in an e-mail today and I thought it was just wonderful:

“Life is like a roller coaster after all. There are some calm periods, some turbulent ones, and some very turbulent ones. But you know, if you’re brave, you can do the whole ride with your hands in the air. God is our safety belt that keeps us from flying out.”

I like the part about riding the whole ride with your hands up, this is where trust in God comes in. I guess I also like the image of letting go! Letting go of the bar is like letting go of all those things that hold us back in life. And life (or a roller coaster ride) is so much better when you let go. The thing is, how many people would ever let go on their first ride?  We have to experience the ups and down first, learn to anticipate the turns and the imperfections in the track.  But, even then, many will never let go of the bar,  we will cling to it out of fear or out of habit. But, maybe this is not important. Maybe what is important is that we had the guts to get on the roller coaster in the first place.  Or maybe this is like life, where most of us  are on the ride holding on to the handlebar in fear of letting go. We will never be able to truly experience life, until we have faith in something bigger than ourselves, let our grip loosen and throw our hands into the air. We can let God be our safety belt and free our hands to do what they were meant to do.  Reach up to the sky!