Today finds me seated in some long, tubular metal object, thirty thousand feet in the sky, flying hundreds of miles per hour, traveling from one side of the country to the other in the mere amount of time it takes to a watch a double overtime football game. Is that unbelievable or what?
When my grandfather was a kid, this whole experience would have been unimaginable. It would have taken HIS grandparents months, maybe more, risking their lives on dangerous treks via covered wagon, to traverse the distance I’ll cover in just these next few hours. Yet here I am, strapped into a comfortable seat, soaring through the sky, looking down at the world below me. Again, is that unbelievable or what?
Apparently not, for most of the passengers on this flight. At least the adults, that is. Most of them immediately either dozed off soon after take-off, pulled out a book, or found themselves mesmerized by something moving on a screen.
But the kids aboard this flight? They get just how incredible this all is. From the moment this jet began its race down the runway, they couldn’t hold back their endless giggles and shrieks of excitement, which only got louder as we lifted off into the sky.
“Mom, look! Ooh, Dad, can you see? Wow! Look! Look!”
More “oohs” and “aahs” echoed through the cabin as we entered, then rose above, the clouds. Even a several minute bout of turbulence was greeted with happiness!
You gotta love kids. Everything they do, everything they see, they embrace the “awesomeness” of it all. Kind of makes you wonder what happened to us adults, most of whom have greeted today’s same thrilling experience with yawns.
OK, I don’t know about you, but I plead totally GUILTY. Over the years, I’ve flown what seems like hundreds of times, where most of the time, I’m that very guy dozing off, or perhaps doing what I’m doing right now, which is jotting down words on a laptop.
This guilty plea I’ve copped doesn’t only apply to flights. How many times have I opened my bedroom window or front door in the morning, or even just driven down the road, and not been amazed by God’s creation surrounding me? The sound of birds, the sky, the sun, the clouds, the trees. Little children are in constant awe of that stuff. Am I?
How about the fact that the very same God who created all those things ALSO chose to create ME? That should have me pumped, every single day, ready to live out my purpose rather than waste time. But AM I truly excited to live every day, and for a purpose? Kids are! They’re so excited they can’t contain their happiness or even stop running around. They smile. They laugh. They dream big. They live in a world of constant amazement.
How many times have I sat in a church and not thought about Jesus’ words when he said that whenever two or more are gathered in his name, He is present? Wait a minute, the Son of God is, like, HERE with us? That should absolutely blow me away, every single time. But does it really? I mean, lots of little kids are excited by a mere PICTURE of Jesus. To be honest, am I even a fraction that excited about his actual PRESENCE?
Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he said we should all be like little kids. Not just trusting like children, but excited and awestruck constantly by all God given us AND done for us! Kind of like the kids on this flight.
That’s it. I’m done jotting down words. Time to close this laptop, stow it away and look out the window at that amazing world below.