Flying Without Wings

Throughout Christmas there have been angels –appearing to Mary, Joseph and shepherds, angelic children dressed as angels, non-angelic adults dressed as angels, angels in lights, angels in carols… I was reminded of the Westlife song ‘Flying Without Wings’.

Everybody’s looking for that something
One thing that makes it all complete
You’ll find it in the strangest places
Places you never knew it could be

Some find it in the face of their children
Some find it in their lover’s eyes
Who can deny the joy it brings
When you’ve found that special thing
You’re flying without wings
Christmas has been full of stuff – presents, food, drink, activity. The song reminds us that’s what’s most important is the children, the nearest and dearest, those who are special to us. It’s in the people and relationships that we find the love, the joy, ‘that something that makes it all complete.’  

Some find it sharing every morning
Some in their solitary nights
You’ll find it in the words of others
A simple line can make you laugh or cry

You find it in the deepest friendship
The kind you cherish all your life
And when you know how much that means
You’ve found that special thing
You’re flying without wings
At Christmas we have arrangements and traditions, familiar stories of a baby, stable and manger, songs about snow and Santa. The picture of ‘flying without wings’ suggests the super-natural, something deeper, the spiritual, that will last beyond the twelve days of Christmas.

So, impossible as they may seem
You’ve got to fight for every dream
‘Cause who’s to know
Which one you let go
Would have made you complete

Well, for me it’s waking up beside you
To watch the sunrise on your face
To know that I can say, “I love you”
In any given time or place

The Christmas narrative reminds us of love, The love of a mother for a baby, a baby who grew to be a man who taught us about love, who showed us how to live love in a way that is ‘flying without wings’. I’m reminded that God is the source, the motivation and the enabling power of love, that love is a choice, love is an action, love is a way of life.

It’s little things that only I know
Those are the things that make you mine
And it’s like flying without wings
‘Cause you’re my special thing
I’m flying without wings

And you’re the place my life begins
And you’ll be where it ends
I’m flying without wings
And that’s the joy you bring
I’m flying without wings
The final verse is my prayer. The God who was the beginning of my life, and will be it’s end, brings me His love and joy. Looking forward to 2026, I pray that I’ll learn to fly without wings a bit better.