Witness in Flight
It is amazing how I can have great intentions for reading during my flight and then those intentions are completely thwarted by a conversation behind me that changes everything.
As we are seated, I hear the lady, who seems to be about my age say hello to the gentleman who sat next to her. He sounded as if to be a younger man. His accent was heavy with a New Yorker attitude. I was interested to hear how he responded to her Southern charm. He was equally engaging and the conversation was bound to last the entire flight.
It did. But the tone the conversation took was so interesting that my reading was interrupted and I could not focus on my content for being curious about theirs.
This young man, who revealed he was the CEO of his company, talked about leaving New York for work on a regular basis to head to small-town America, which included Arkansas, the home of Wal-Mart. He said that every time it made him think about leaving New York City for good. He appreciated the quaint simple life in small-town America. The lady was quick to agree with him, that she assumed it was difficult living in such a big city. Especially with the fear of it being bombed or terrorized in some way.
This similar thought among the two opened the door for a more spiritual conversation. The lady mentioned the spiritual values in a small town, especially in the south. The young man mentioned being brought up Jewish, but that he considered himself more agnostic in his adult life. Yet he said he continued to search and feel as though there was something missing. He talked about his exploration of the Christian belief and a business partner who had witnessed to him years ago. The lady asked if that conversation changed his attitude toward God and he said no. He was still curious, but that was the extent of his exposure to Christianity at that point in his life. Then he told a story of his father.
This young man’s father had been a strong Jewish man who later in life felt a different calling. He sold all of his worldly possessions to travel the world in search of a spiritual revelation. His travels took him to Europe, India, and the Middle East. It was through the witness of many along the way that this young man’s father found Jesus.
The father tried witnessing to him, but the young man held to his non-belief. His struggle was more about those in the world that have no opportunity to be witnessed to. “How would he get to heaven?” he asked. But then he mentioned his father becoming seriously ill and going through great lengths to get home to the states to be with his family during his last days. It sounded as if this was a difficult and almost impossible task. The young man described the hurdles they had to overcome to get him to New York.
Once he was placed in hospice and the family gathered, the father was able to die peacefully, knowing that he was where he needed to be. During his father’s last days, he witnessed to his family. The son never forgot it. He felt as though this moment in his life was a turning point and realized the importance of how his father’s last days were and how God's work had them play out. But he still, even years later, cannot bring himself to truly believe, even with his father’s witness.
The lady took the opportunity to share her beliefs all during this flight. She was not afraid of the young man’s questions and she was strong enough in her faith to share the word of God with this man. They talked politics, they talked gay rights, and they talked religion. She did not impose too much on this man, being careful to take the right opportunities to interject her faith during the conversation.
At one point, he admitted to searching for something. The lady responded to him by saying, “You sound like your heart is ready for God.” The young man’s response was that he wasn’t sure if that was it or if he is just longing for something different. Again, the lady responded with grace, God’s love, and beautiful words that left him very curious.
As the flight was coming to an end, these two expressed their gratitude to each other and recognized out loud that this meeting was something special. The young man, the CEO, asked for this lady’s email address so that he could contact her later and thank her more formally for the conversation. She reciprocated and was extremely gracious, thanking him for the wonderful chat that seemed to make the flight time go by so very quickly.
As we exited the plane, I realized that I had not read the chapters of my book that I had intended to read. I had not gotten the spiritual study in that I planned. My book is The Pursuit of Holiness. It is about our responsibility to obey God’s command for holiness. I knew I would be able to catch up on my reading later. Not only did this woman behind me witness to the young man, but she witnessed to me. She was displaying holiness.
I think God knew I would learn more by listening today, not reading. That conversation changed everything. What a blessing for the two of them, and for me in flight! As my row mate and I left the jet-way, we both acknowledged to each other how special the conversation was. It is funny that she and I did not converse at all during the flight. But then we realized why. Both of our intentions for the flight had been thwarted by this amazing conversation. We both felt very blessed by it. The witness during flight.
As we are seated, I hear the lady, who seems to be about my age say hello to the gentleman who sat next to her. He sounded as if to be a younger man. His accent was heavy with a New Yorker attitude. I was interested to hear how he responded to her Southern charm. He was equally engaging and the conversation was bound to last the entire flight.
It did. But the tone the conversation took was so interesting that my reading was interrupted and I could not focus on my content for being curious about theirs.
This young man, who revealed he was the CEO of his company, talked about leaving New York for work on a regular basis to head to small-town America, which included Arkansas, the home of Wal-Mart. He said that every time it made him think about leaving New York City for good. He appreciated the quaint simple life in small-town America. The lady was quick to agree with him, that she assumed it was difficult living in such a big city. Especially with the fear of it being bombed or terrorized in some way.
This similar thought among the two opened the door for a more spiritual conversation. The lady mentioned the spiritual values in a small town, especially in the south. The young man mentioned being brought up Jewish, but that he considered himself more agnostic in his adult life. Yet he said he continued to search and feel as though there was something missing. He talked about his exploration of the Christian belief and a business partner who had witnessed to him years ago. The lady asked if that conversation changed his attitude toward God and he said no. He was still curious, but that was the extent of his exposure to Christianity at that point in his life. Then he told a story of his father.
This young man’s father had been a strong Jewish man who later in life felt a different calling. He sold all of his worldly possessions to travel the world in search of a spiritual revelation. His travels took him to Europe, India, and the Middle East. It was through the witness of many along the way that this young man’s father found Jesus.
The father tried witnessing to him, but the young man held to his non-belief. His struggle was more about those in the world that have no opportunity to be witnessed to. “How would he get to heaven?” he asked. But then he mentioned his father becoming seriously ill and going through great lengths to get home to the states to be with his family during his last days. It sounded as if this was a difficult and almost impossible task. The young man described the hurdles they had to overcome to get him to New York.
Once he was placed in hospice and the family gathered, the father was able to die peacefully, knowing that he was where he needed to be. During his father’s last days, he witnessed to his family. The son never forgot it. He felt as though this moment in his life was a turning point and realized the importance of how his father’s last days were and how God's work had them play out. But he still, even years later, cannot bring himself to truly believe, even with his father’s witness.
The lady took the opportunity to share her beliefs all during this flight. She was not afraid of the young man’s questions and she was strong enough in her faith to share the word of God with this man. They talked politics, they talked gay rights, and they talked religion. She did not impose too much on this man, being careful to take the right opportunities to interject her faith during the conversation.
At one point, he admitted to searching for something. The lady responded to him by saying, “You sound like your heart is ready for God.” The young man’s response was that he wasn’t sure if that was it or if he is just longing for something different. Again, the lady responded with grace, God’s love, and beautiful words that left him very curious.
As the flight was coming to an end, these two expressed their gratitude to each other and recognized out loud that this meeting was something special. The young man, the CEO, asked for this lady’s email address so that he could contact her later and thank her more formally for the conversation. She reciprocated and was extremely gracious, thanking him for the wonderful chat that seemed to make the flight time go by so very quickly.
As we exited the plane, I realized that I had not read the chapters of my book that I had intended to read. I had not gotten the spiritual study in that I planned. My book is The Pursuit of Holiness. It is about our responsibility to obey God’s command for holiness. I knew I would be able to catch up on my reading later. Not only did this woman behind me witness to the young man, but she witnessed to me. She was displaying holiness.
I think God knew I would learn more by listening today, not reading. That conversation changed everything. What a blessing for the two of them, and for me in flight! As my row mate and I left the jet-way, we both acknowledged to each other how special the conversation was. It is funny that she and I did not converse at all during the flight. But then we realized why. Both of our intentions for the flight had been thwarted by this amazing conversation. We both felt very blessed by it. The witness during flight.
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