Click

I had just gotten off the plane, grabbed some Manchu Wok, and arrived in my seat. My last flight was anything but exciting… quite annoying actually. An incredibly egotistical-looking, pimp-hat-wearing guy that I’d seen drinking beers and flirting with the bartender was assigned to the seat next to me. [I KNEW that would happen, ugh.] He quickly found out I was a minister… I eased it into the dialogue quickly because I thought… ok, hoped beyond hope… that this fact would detract him from further conversation. I then began to look at the Sky Mall catalog [which, on a sidenote, is just SO hilarious to me. Who gets on a plane and decides it is suddenly the right time to purchase a $300 beer cooling system or a $500 massage table that doubles as a quaint little dinette?] Although I was obviously trying my hardest to look incredibly focused and busy with my catalog, he began to look over my shoulder and comment on everything from the dog crate disguised as an end table to one’s own personal refrigerator beer tap. Several minutes later he asked if he could buy me a drink for my generosity in letting him use my Sudoku puzzles. [Yes, I believe he was only trying to feel out my ministerial buttons.] “I’ll buy ya a beer or something if ya want.” I declined, while praying fervently that he would leave me alone to my overpriced novelty items. It was obvious that he was not at all interested in anything religious… and I didn’t push the issue. I could sense he was closed to that idea as well. Longest flight EVER.

So when I got on my next flight I felt two things: First, guilt. Would a good minister have made more effort with flight guy A? Was I supposed to try harder? But second, and most importantly, who would be next? And will they expect to talk to me, or will they leave me alone? [And is it wrong that I want to be left alone?] I sat down by the window with a seat between me and an older gentleman that laughed about stealing some of my Manchu Wok... You know that feeling you get when almost everybody is on the plane and you still have an empty seat next to you? So hopeful… And then the last guy to board the plane walked slowly towards our row and sat down between the two of us. I said a silent prayer.

He was a talker from the get-go, but for some reason it was obvious in my heart that I didn’t mind. I liked it. There was something genuine and passionate and open about him, and I was drawn to the authenticity. He plays basketball with a minister who cusses every now and then and he says it’s the nicest thing… pastors not trying to be perfect. Good, holy, but not perfect. He started into deep, I mean deep issues. Our conversation began to mirror those hardcore, theological ones from my seminary days. I felt like I was in Mark Biddle’s class all over again. “If we’re not loving people, are we really serving God?... ALL people – gay people, homeless people, women, illegal immigrants?”…“Will God really send all people that don’t claim the five letters J-E-S-U-S to hell?”…“Does God really cling to a particular name? Or is it us that cling to a particular name?”… All of these things were what HE was asking/talking about out loud. Very fast-paced. Very all over the place. He might have had a smidge of ADHD inside of him… the flight wasn’t long enough to ask.

He then went into his family, his kids, and this realization he had come to [a ‘Come to Jesus Meeting’ as he called it] while taking a shower four days before. “Something, whether you wanna call it my inner self, my ego, some universal truth or God – something showed me that I should be doing more. I’m not reaching my potential - with my family, with my business. I felt this definite calling that I need to be on a better, higher path. Seriously, if I hadn’t had that ‘Come to Jesus Meeting’ out of nowhere in the shower then I don’t think I would be so open to this conversation right now. I think people are put into our paths for a reason. Honestly, Danielle, you have inspired me to ask Jay [basketball pastor] when his church service is. I wanna find out more about this.”

We talked for an hour and a half – nonstop. He told me about his childhood, growing up in a household where God was never discussed. His wife had been burned by conservative fundamentalism and would be quite harder to reach, he said. He asked me what being a Christian really meant, why I had picked that over Islam, Buddhism, etc. I told him I was too poor for Scientology.

Max was so open, and he kept thanking me for being so open with him. He was continuously amazed at this serendipitous meeting. He continued sharing ways that he felt pulled towards some universal truth. So when he said, “I’ve never been very religious. I don’t go to church or anything. I don’t consider myself religious or spiritual,” I felt very compelled to say, “Max, for a person who says they’re not ‘religious’, you sure seem to have a ministry, a calling, and you seem to have thought a whole lot about God.” I think that threw him off. I think he was hung up on the “religion equals churchgoer” mentality.

We walked off the plane together and gave each other a quick hug. Before we departed, never to see or hear from each other again, he said something I will never forget. “Danielle, if there are pastors like you in this world, I could see myself making that step. If you’re the face of religion, of Christianity, then I think I’m about ready to go all the way.”

Now, let's get somethin' straight here. Reading this could make me sound really prideful and big on myself but PLEASE HEAR ME. The absolute truth is… I didn’t say much! I nodded in agreement far more than words were uttered. I smiled, I listened intently. I commented here and there. I threw out a few opinions concerning love, peace, healing, and reconciliation. I reminded him that HE is changing the world through those youth he trains every day. That’s… about it. And, by God's grace, that was enough. Because God had been, and continues, to work in Max for YEARS! I wasn’t in that shower, or in that conference, or in his marriage, or on that basketball court. I was just a ‘nice lady on a plane’ as he called me – and yet, I got to be there! I got to participate, and watch God click in someone’s mind. I hopefully got to lead him to the right questions [not answers necessarily, but questions] so that he could ‘work out his salvation’ with his own free will. THAT was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. THAT is why I am here, why YOU are here… why we are ALL here. To help reconcile, ever so slowly [or quickly… I mean it was only an hour long flight] someone back to the God that created him/her.

So I have prayed, and will continue to pray, for Max and Katie [Kat], Kyra, and Jace. I will pray that they, as a family, feel pulled by grace and truth and love – realizing how big and great God is.

As for my guilt concerning my coldness towards flight guy A… I have reminded myself that nobody can befriend everybody. It is our job to meet people halfway, open to sharing the Good News of life to anyone we meet; however, it’s also our job to recognize when someone is not ready for that conversation. Forcing “God talk” onto people is not our job…. being prepared, in season and out, when someone is open to it on a plane IS.

So may we all be ready… for those random conversations on a plane, a bus, a carpool… standing in line at Starbucks or watching our dog play at the park. 

May our eyes and ears be wide open to what is going on around us, and may we be attuned to the cries for help and guidance that others throw our way. May we read between the lines, and may we recognize God… on the basketball court, at the dinner table, and most especially in the shower. Because God is whispering to us all.