Tag: journey

Turbulence

If you’ve ever travelled by plane then I’m sure the above title holds a meaning to you. Maybe you can even think back about a time when your flight suddenly experienced turbulence. If you’ll be honest for a moment, then let me ask you a simple question. In that moment or moments of the sudden drops, sideways wiggles, wing dips and rises, did you at any of those moments during the turbulence panic? Let’s be honest here. I get if you’re a pilot and are used to this or maybe a flight attendant and it’s just another day at the office. It’s just that for the rest of us, your office is above 30k feet.

I remember being on a flight once with a pilot who was sitting across the aisle from me and watched as he explained to his daughter and others, that the turbulence we were feeling was similar to potholes on roadways. It DID make me feel better, but for just a bit as I watched him relax and fall asleep for a bit. If he woke up and panicked then I decided it would be something that I should panic about as well.

There are of course very nice pilots who will announce the turbulence ahead of time so we as passengers can prepare and then the best pilots will also announce they are seeking a better altitude or route to avoid or at least minimize the bounces and sideways shimmies. I like those pilots.

But when the bounces and bumps happen without warning, I panic for a moment and visualize that there is something wrong with the plane- I admit I like window seats near the engines so I can take a quick peak out the window from time to time to make sure we’re all good there. Being married to an aircraft mechanic and manufacturer who actually builds the engines is both a blessing and a curse. When he is flying with me and gets nervous, well then I get nervous. Or when he explains many of the issues in manufacturing that come up, well I take note of every noise and bump on the airplane.

So, what I am really trying to say is I feel like we are all on this flight lately that has had many incidents of turbulence. I am viewing this from here in the United States and am wondering when this crazy turbulent journey will end. I am not alone. We are beginning to wonder who is the pilot and why isn’t he changing course or adjusting altitude so we can all just take a breath and have the seatbelt signs go out.

There are some people who, just like on a plane flight, will ignore the seatbelt signs, get up, walk around and ignore the cabin stewards instructions, while the rest of us are strapped in, living in fear of the next big thing. Will it be a drop, or a side ways shimmy or a wing dip. There are random announcements from the cockpit, stating everything is amazing and “I am the best pilot in the world” but we feel the dips and drops and worry that we are all about to go down.

It would be nice to hear a voice of truth that the plane is flying safe and we are all going to be okay. But for some of us we don’t believe the messages of truth are being shared, just more propaganda. The real truth doesn’t come from those in power or even from those behind pulpits, it comes from the original source of truth, the Bible.

The world has always had its share of turbulence and the people mentioned in the Bible faced many of the same issues we find ourselves in today. Wars, abuse, greed, murder, theft, jealousy, divorce, sickness, death, miscarriage, loss of employment, money struggles, taxes to be paid, wrongful imprisonment. These are not new. Our nature as humans has not changed. There isn’t a utopian society. Mankind will always be bent away from God and choose self and convenience over sacrifice.

Does this mean we should just give up? Resign ourselves to hopelessness? No. We can rest assured that those who seek harm to others will be held accountable. We are ALL held accountable before God. God is not a respecter of persons, and He doesn’t base our goodness on our own standards, but on his. the Bible says that God will not be mocked.

None of us can claim to be Jesus or as good as Jesus, but we can all humble ourselves before God and ask for His protection and guidance. It might feel right now that the pilot is missing or at least not taking the world on a safe flight plan, but what we need to remember is that God created this world and preserves it, man doesn’t control everything and it is up to God’s timing to land the plane.

I am reminded through this struggling time that Jesus slept quietly on the boat with the disciples while the wind and the waves around the boat scared them and they thought they were going to die. When they woke up Jesus, He asked them where is your faith? and commanded the wind and the waves to stop and they did. (Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41 and Luke 8:22-25). Jesus also said “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (NIV, John 16:33). Despite the trouble or turbulence in the moment, don’t forget that God is still in control, we can lean into that and place out trust in Him, not in politics or religion, but wholly completely on Him. God bless- Nancy

What Did You Say?

What? I’m sorry, I didn’t get that? Pardon? Excuse me? Huh? have you ever used one of these phrases in reply to another? You know when you are supposed to be listening? We all have from time to time. It is so easy to get distracted these days, between looking at our phones or tablets, or allowing the noises around us to distract our listening. Sometimes it is just that we are so busy, so rushed, so hurried, that we simply do not focus on the speaker. We all seem to be so preoccupied these days, in these days since the world started waking up from its pandemic slumber. We had been forced by the pandemic to slow down, stay home, work from home, teach our children from home, and we were force to stop and contemplate our lives. And listen.

At least that was my experience. My husband was shut down at his work and was able to spend time with me. As a student and writer, I am often home alone, working by myself, with just the dog and cat for company, so I enjoyed the pandemic shutdown. My husband and I had great conversations over breakfast, we enjoyed morning walks in our neighborhood, and tackling home improvement projects together. Life was good. And then everything started back up again this year, and now I barely see my neighbors, the walks have given way to keeping up with schedules. Traffic has become hectic again, and people are stressed out and angry. We as a society have seem to have forgotten our vows made during our pandemic pause to slow down and enjoy life and the people in our lives.

Recently, I had the opportunity- finally– to visit some older family members. And what has struck me is how important enjoying a good visit can be. Slowing down, listening to the stories from the past, trying to understand who my family really was, and where there had really come from. We miss so much when we fail to slow down and listen to others.

As I have gotten older, I have learned to appreciate more the struggles endured by my family of origin. I have learned of their incredible perseverance, despite the difficulties. I have always enjoyed listening to their stories, but in particular, as I too have faced difficulties in life, I can understand what they went through. As we get older we do tend to learn and respect our families more. I look back on my life and often I feel regret for my own failure to listen to them in the past. I was too busy with raising my own children, to really listen to their stories of how they raised my brothers and I or how my grandparents raised them. I was preoccupied with life. I was looking forward to the destination, instead enjoying the journey. Let us remember to slow down, enjoy this journey of life, taking time to be present and listen to those around us. – God Bless, Nancy