Somewhere Over the Atlantic...
If you have ever flown overseas, whether for business, for pleasure, or for a mission trip, then you know the flight itself is perhaps the most brutal part of the trip - especially if you are flying coach. You spend countless hours crammed in like sardines with people of all types and ages and there is very little to occupy your time. If you are lucky, then you can find a way to fall asleep and then awaken several hours later on the other side of the world.
Josh and Matt were lucky. They say they didn't sleep, but I have pictures to the contrary. I am not so lucky. There may have been moments were it seems as if I were sleeping, but truthfully it was little more than a wink here or a "z" or two there. It just seems if you have sleep apnea like I do, sleeping on a plane is not an option, so I am left watching as the little white icon of an airplane ticks across the flight tracker on the tiny screen on the back of the seat in front of me...Time to Destination 01:43....oh and that is only for this first leg of the journey to Amsterdam. After that, we have another 8-hour flight to Mumbai and then a 2-hour flight to Hyderabad, and finally a 6-8 hour van drive to Eluru.
Oh sure, I could watch one of the complimentary movies or play about a thousand rounds of Bejeweled, or even read one of the books I brought for just this occasion. Unfortunately, it just doesn't seem right somehow. All the lights on the plane are out and literally everyone else is asleep. So for right now at least it is just me and the little white airplane...ticking across...Time to Destination 01:40...sigh...
One thing about his time, however, is that it serves as a very good time to be alone with God. I wouldn't exactly call it the classic case of Silence and Solitude under the circumstances, but it does just about as well. I have become a firm believer over the last year or so in the discipline of Silence and Solitude. Most Christians do not realize its importance. It is more than "quiet time" and more than "prayer time" - it is one on one time with God.
On the drive over to Atlanta from Birmingham to catch the plane, Josh was telling me that his favorite verse in the Bible is Psalm 46:10 - Be still and know that I am God. Actually, that is my wife Patty's favorite verse as well and we have a plaque of it on our bookshelf at home. That verse probably describes Silence and Solitude better than anything else and represents this particular moment more than anything else I could think of myself - just being still in the darkness on the plane and being alone with God to know him better.
I do want to know God better and to feel his presence with me on a regular if not continual basis. When you love someone, you want to be with them and spend time with them. I realize that God is always with me but I want to feel his presence in a very real way. Think about it this way. It's only been about 12 hours and already I miss my beloved wife. That is how I want my relationship to be with God - only all the more so because my love for him should be all the more greater than my love for Patty. Unfortunately, Christians (myself included) say that we love God above all else, but our actions do not always convey that reality. I have found that Silence and Solitude moves my reality closer to my claims.
The lights are up now and Josh is awake...
Time to Destination 01:35... Be still...
Post Note: the one good thing about not having internet access on the plane is that I can actually revise and update this blog before posting. I am now on my way to Mumbai from Amsterdam and I am blessed to say that with the assistance of a little friend named Ben (a.k.a. Benadryl), I managed to get a couple of hours of fairly decent sleep.
Time to Destination 05:49...(***groan***) Maybe I can try for a few more hours of sleep in a few minutes, but now that I am awake, I think I will first fill out that dreaded customs form!
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