Media Morning
A Childhood Dream Come True

[August 26, 2023]   “Hemelvaart” is one of eleven national holidays in Belgium. The word is hard to translate but it refers to the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Varen” literally means to sail. “Hemel” refers to heaven. So, literally, each year, the Belgian nation celebrates the day Jesus “sailed off into heaven.”

For me as a child, more so than Christmas, it was Jesus’ hemelvaart that caught my attention as I grew up in Belgium. What must it have felt like for Jesus slowly, quietly, to rise into the sky? What must it have looked like to see Jesus disappear into the clouds (see Acts 1:9-11)?

Now, living since 1977 in Lincoln, I have seen so many beautiful balloons rise into the sky, but today I got to experience my childhood dream come true. Karen, my wife, and I had nearly a hone hour flight in a hot air balloon! This was my first flight! Thank you, Lincoln Daily News!

As the sun was rising to another clear, hot morning, I got to “crew” on the balloon owned by Jerry and MaryAnn Garcia from Albuquerque (the Mecca of hot air ballooning in America)! Our lift off spot was a soccer field behind Walmart, where we launched the Tentai. I was told this means “Heavenly Apparition” in Japanese. I am guessing that we were one of eight balloons that lifted off.

I was also told that the “envelope” (the balloon) weighed 350 pounds and the basket alone weighed an additional 500 pounds! It is a fact, though hard to believe, that such a heavy contraption will just float off the ground.

Preparing the flight requires some careful work and some heavy lifting. As first the air is blown by a large fan into the mouth of the balloon, and then the heat is blasted loudly, you can feel this “whale” come to life, straining to get up off the ground. It is exciting to see the gorgeous colors unfurl and expand!

We were the last to lift off and we flew the furthest (landing near Beason) and stayed up the longest! Woohoo!

Both the lift off and the landing were very smooth, our basket made one little bunny hop lifting off, and one little bunny hop landing, in between a ditch and a soybean field! Just a perfect performance by Jerry Garcia who has been flying for over 20 years and has taken many of past LDN staff on trips. One reason they come to Lincoln so often may be because his wife, MaryAnn, is originally from Lincoln.

I promised Karen a kiss that would send her to heaven and so I kissed her at 820 feet altitude! That was a high for us!

What will I always remember? Gliding through the sky without the roar of an engine or the flapping of a wing—so gentle and quiet, except for an occasional blast of propane flames. Seeing Jesus “lift off” would have been amazing and would have necessitated an angel shaking me back to reality also!

Having taught theology for 37 years at Lincoln Christian University, it is inevitable that I resort to religion to interpret this wonderful experience. Scholars tell us that the heart of all human religion is to experience a mystery that is at the same time fascinating (it draws us closer) but also a little scary (it makes us tremble a little). That is what I felt as the basket lifted me off the ground because I have witnessed balloons crashing and yet how delightful it is just to soar!

[John Castelein]