“You
look really happy.” The clerk at the Miami Airport Sheraton hotel
said that to me last night, about half-way through the check-in. And
it was true, I was. I'd been annoyed earlier, though.
Waiting
in the Cap Haitien airport earlier that day, I was seated near a very
friendly guy with a voice that carried well. He chatted with most of
the people near him. He had lived in many countries, but made some
rather amazingly ignorant statements about language and history and
current events. I ended up seated in the same row as he was on the
plane, and got to hear more of his theology and life philosophy as he
chatted to the guy in between us – much of which I disagreed with.
I asked God to help me see him as my brother, and that helped a
little – but then he would say another ridiculous thing and I would
mutter under my breath again. I then focused on my breathing, which
actually did help a lot.
We
landed a little late in Miami, but I still should have had plenty of
time to get to my next flight. However, I hadn't yet been issued a
boarding pass for that next leg and the two lines for that were
chaotic – many of us were told to wait in one and then later told
to move to another, several agents and passengers were snippy. I
still had some time and it wouldn't have mattered terribly much to me
even if I missed my flight, so I wasn't frustrated due to the wait.
I was getting annoyed, though, by the statements of some of the
people around me. A couple of the guys behind me were pushing two of my
buttons: annoying travel talk (complaining about common travel
inconveniences as if they were rare, and emphasizing how much they
traveled internationally) as well as throwing out certain theological
statements that I find objectionable. It didn't help that they had
similar accents as the guy who'd been near me for hours that day (to
my untrained ear – they were from Alabama and the previous guy was
from Texas).
One
of the thing they complained about was how horrible American Airlines
was compared to Delta. I interjected that similar things had
happened to me on Delta before, and it turns out the difference was
that they had premier status on Delta. So they were used to
privileged treatment (okay, so maybe that's another one of my
buttons). Then one of them mentioned again how frustrated he was
that he still wasn't home, then added that perhaps God had done this
for a reason, saving them from some tragedy. This pushed my “9/11”
button – you know, all the people who told stories about people who
didn't go to the Twin Towers that day as if God had particularly
orchestrated events so as to spare them. (I'm not a fan of this idea since it leads to God somehow not caring about the thousands who were
there that day -- indeed, some popular pastors currently preach that
God is okay with destroying people). My
waiting-in-line companion then said about the missed flight, “After
all, how are we to know what's bad and what's good.” Argh!
There's another one: this popular concept that assumes that what we
want and desire is likely opposed by God, and ignores that we were
made in the image and likeness of God and are hopefully daily being
shaped more and more into God's image, growing to love what God loves
and walk in the ways of the Kingdom of God.
Airplane
guy had said something similar – he'd been doing a job that he was
very skilled at and really loved, but he felt God calling him “to
trust God alone, to do things in His power” and so left his job in
fear and trembling to be a “full time Christian missionary.” Who
did he think had given him those skills that he had been using? How is using
your innate talents somehow not trusting in God's power and creative
energy and design? More than doing something random that you are
able to call “full time Christian missions” ?
But
then I kept talking with the guys from Alabama - they were very
chatty. And they were funny, and kind. One of them mentioned how
sorry he felt for the gate agents having to deal with such frustrated
passengers, and added in his Southern drawl, “Boy, aren't they
receiving some blessings today.” I'd heard Southerners use that
word ironically in movies but not in real life – it was really
cute.
It
was then my turn to go to the gate agent, and she was really helpful
and we ended up laughing a lot. My flight was already closed, but
she gave me a dinner voucher (I hadn't eaten much that day since I'd
spent a lot of it waiting in lines, so this part was particularly
exciting to me – silly to be so happy about this, since I would
have had no trouble paying for dinner myself), a night at the
Sheraton, and re-routed me to Minneapolis in the morning. The
shuttle bus to the hotel was packed and the driver kept making funny
announcements and telling us that we were going to the best hotel
ever. The staff at the reception desk were very professional, and
acted as if this were the Ritz Carlton. I knew I had a restaurant
meal soon to come, followed by a huge, comfy bed.
So
yes, I was happy when I was getting checked into the hotel. While I
was bummed that I would be missing the church service in Minnesota
that I had been looking forward to (with people I've worshiped with
for decades, which is now an uncommon occurrence in my life), the
disruption in my travel plans wasn't serious. The two guys from
Alabama had helped me to move past my earlier internal ishy-ness –
and since Jesus put so much emphasis on the love we are to have for
one another, I am very grateful to my brothers in Christ for helping
me get there last night. (And hopefully beyond last night, as when
similar issues come up I will doubtless remember them.) And my
physical needs were being catered to fantastically well. Happy.
Written
at the Philadelphia airport – in the City of Brotherly Love. :-)
