Uncomfortable...but Safe

It took 13 hours to travel home on Monday after the conference in North Carolina. That included one delay on the ground in Charlotte while we waited for a flight attendant to sprint across the terminal and join us, and another while we waited for the windshield wipers to get fixed. I was thinking Jiffy Lube could have done it faster if we had just wheeled the plane over to one of its stations.

We arrived in Chicago and I boarded my next flight, taking my seat next to the window. I love watching out the window when I fly because I always hope the clouds will part and let me see something amazing on the ground. It's a little like looking at the world from God’s point of view.

I was just getting settled in and beginning to read when there was a flutter of activity on my right and a lovely young lady with big brown eyes sat down next to me. She was as slim as a model and had a cute, 60’s-style Piccadilly cap pulled down over her hair. She buckled herself into her seat and immediately started tapping both of her feet at such a rate I thought the whole plane would soon be rocking in rhythm to it.

Without bothering to introduce herself, she looked at me with those wide eyes and said, “I just got off the worst flight! The whole plane was shaking like this...” and she waved her hands wildly from side to side. Then she made them bob up and down and I got the picture; it had been a bad one. She was not ready to fly again at that moment and was debating whether or not to bolt for the cabin door.

I told her, “You know, planes are built to handle that kind of thing.” She looked at me in disbelief and said, “Do you really think so?” I assured I knew it was true. I told her my daughter-in-law’s dad is a pilot and one of the most cautious people on the planet. He wouldn’t have flown for thousands of hours all over the world unless the equipment was safe in all kinds of weather and conditions. My seat mate relaxed a little, and although she did white-knuckle her way through take-off, once we were cruising she began to enjoy the flight a little bit.

Then we entered the airspace over Colorado and met one of those summer afternoon thunder-boomers the state is famous for. Our plane began to dance through the turbulent clouds and buck on the updrafts. We looked out the window and saw lightning strike the ground just south of us. My seat mate looked at me in terror and asked, “Are you sure planes are built to handle this?” Once again I assured her they are.

Then I said, “This is uncomfortable, but it isn’t dangerous. Your stomach is jumping and your brain is firing off alarms, but you are safe. The pilot does this everyday. The plane is built to fly right through this storm and soon we will be safe on the ground. It’s uncomfortable, but you are safe.”

She began to repeat the words “I’m uncomfortable, but I’m safe” quietly, like a mantra.

I pointed out to her that the airline made a promise to get her safely to her destination and intended to keep it. Pilots are trained to know what to do in a storm. Everyone in a position of responsibility had already done all they should to guarantee a safe trip and a safe landing, and the odds were very high that we were going to land gently and safely in a few minutes...which, of course, we did.

The narrative running in the back of my mind during this conversation had to do with larger circumstances than a rocky plane ride. I was thinking of friends, neighbors and family members who are dealing with storms of illness, financial stress and uncertainty about the future. Most of these people have faith in God, but some of them don’t.

It occurred to me that those of us who have put our faith in God have boarded a “plane” that is built to deal with the storms of life. I thought of a friend who is undergoing physical pain following surgery right now and yet who has inner peace. My friend is uncomfortable, even suffering from pain, but she believes she is safe. She believes her “pilot” knows how to get her through this and that her ultimate landing will be gentle and pain-free. That kind of peace will see a person through anything. It is peace that is connected to hope.

On the other hand, I recently read the account of a famous writer’s death. She pursued every possible avenue of medical intervention to delay her death from cancer, including traveling all over the country to try experimental drugs. She consumed special diets and practiced obscure therapies. She kept her body and spirit tensed against the looming prospect of death until it was useless and then, in her final days, she turned inward and died silently and in despair. For her the pain of illness and death held no place for peace; she did not believe she was safe.

We don’t know what storms we will face in life. Some of them will be painful and others will push all of our internal panic buttons. Whatever happens, if you are a person of faith remember this: Your circumstances may get uncomfortable, but in the Lord you will always be safe.