Go Fly a Kite!

A Coffee with Padre Video

By Fr. Timothy Armbruster, C.PP.S.

I’m on the road visiting Precious Blood members in Berkeley and San Francisco and to do some site seeing. It’s been a great trip and I’ve been able to cover Masses at Most Holy Redeemer for Fr. Matt Link so he can be gone for a few days.

Just before I left for this trip, I was working on ideas for my next video. In conversation before I left someone said, “Oh just go fly a kite!” I think they were trying to get rid of me but I just heard an invitation to “go fly a kite.”

I love the opportunity to be outdoors and enjoy mother nature. I also love to find an open space to fly a kite. I have wondered if our space around the lake at Precious Blood Renewal Center would be open enough. I took the chance to give it a try before I left for this trip. It was so-so. It might not have been the most perfect day. It might not have been the most perfect wind. But it was still fun trying.

When first arriving in California, Fr. Dave Matz took us on a tour around the Berkeley area. We ventured out to the shore and made our way to Cesar Chavez Park. As we walked around and circled back to the car, we noticed some people flying a kite. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Even in the midst of the city, there was still some wide-open space.

On another excursion, we visited the museum dedicated to Rosie the Riveter along the waterfront near an old Ford plant in Richmond, California. On the water that day were what appeared to be surfers with kites. It was interesting to watch them, to see what they were doing, to see how those kites would actually fly in that wind.

Several years ago at a community gathering at St. Joseph College in Rensselaer, Indiana, I took advantage of a free afternoon to fly a kite. Others looked at me a bit funny when I announced “I’m gonna go fly a kite.” Somebody even said, “You know, when we used to tell you to go fly a kite, we were only joking.” I told them, that’s fine. I enjoy flying kites and I’m headed outside to do it.

For the longest time I carried a kite in a bag in my car. Whenever I had some free time and an open space I would go fly the kite. However, in my moving for Iowa to Missouri last summer, that kite got misplaced and I still haven’t found it.

I have fly various kites over the years as well as some homemade ones. It was great fun on the farm to make a homemade kite with a couple of sticks, newspaper, and ribbons for a tail. We tried various sizes and weights of paper till we found something that withstood the Kansas winds. It had to be strong enough to catch the wind, but light enough to fly.

I’ve even attended some kite flying contests and demonstrations. I am always in awe of the acrobat kites doing their dances. The puppeteer standing on the ground controlling the kites’ every move with just those two strings. It was such a joy to watch people who had the grace and finesse to be able to control such a kite.

I also really enjoy the huge Chinese dragon type kites. They dancing in the air with the grace of a bird. It takes a lot of skill to fly those kites, but the kite commanders make it look so easy. The way they responded to the kite and the wind with a gentle sway, a gentle tug, or a hard yank at times.

There’s a joy and quietness to being outdoors flying a kite. It is not something that can be taught, you just know it. The skill in getting the kite to climb and go higher and higher and to catch the wind and keep sailing. And then, there is the wild rush of a struggle to bring the kite home, wind up the string, and keep it sailing without crashing.

When I’m flying a kite, I find myself humming the kite flying songs from the movies or thinking of Charlie Brown and that kite-eating-tree. That was always my biggest fear, crashing the kite into a tree or getting all tangled up in the kite string. Yet watching the kite soar higher and higher dispelled any thoughts of crashing. The gentle quiet of the day but the feel of the tug on the kite string and the strength of the wind. It always amazed me how strong the wind could be but how light the kite string to hold it together.

At such times. focused on a kite, feeling the sun and the wind, my mind and spirit soar. I enjoy Mother Nature and being outdoors. A calm, peaceful day may not be the perfect day for flying a kite. You need the wind. You need that smack-in-the-face type wind, just to carry it higher and higher.

How high will your spirit float flying a kite?

So, if somebody tells you — even in a joking way — to go fly a kite, I’d recommend you do it. As for me, give me a chance and I’ll go fly a kite!

May your thoughts and prayers soar high this day. Amen.

All of the videos in this series can be found here: Coffee with Padre

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[Fr. Timothy Armbruster is a Precious Blood priest whose ministry has focused on parish work and retreats for youth and young adults. He holds a Master’s of Divinity Degree from Catholic Theological Union and describes himself as “a clown at heart.” Fr. Timothy incorporates clown ministry into his work to open our hearts, to seek laughter and happiness, and to see the world around us a bit differently. “In the stuffiness of life, we need God’s humor to see things anew,” he says.]

Music: We Are a New Creation (Instrumental) Christopher Walker Paule Freeburg We Shall Praise Your Name ℗ 2011 OCP All rights reserved. All selections BMI. Released on: 2020-03-31 Music Publisher: OCP https://youtu.be/1NmInyrziZE

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