I am attending a meeting this week in Atlanta\u2026 well, at least I hope I am.<\/p>\n
Right now I am sitting in Dallas, stranded with about 300 of my newest friends. We should have been to Atlanta about\u2026. wait for it\u2026 one minute ago, but here we sit in the Lone Star state.<\/p>\n
It started with the captain saying they couldn\u2019t close the forward cargo door and they were sending for a mechanic. I heard a joke a few rows up, something about getting a bigger hammer.<\/p>\n
The immediate gaggle of passengers laughed.<\/p>\n
But, the laughing faded into silence, which gave way to sighs, growing into murmurs, that eventually erupted in widespread contagious complaining\u2026 well, I can’t blame them too much.<\/p>\n
We did sit on the runway for two hours.<\/p>\n
It was 106 degrees.<\/p>\n
People missed their connections.<\/p>\n
Information was scarce.<\/p>\n
The flight was oversold, no spare seats.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t fun.<\/p>\n
But, at the end of those two \u201cfaith provoking\u201d hours they let us know that someone had finally gotten the door closed and we were on our way\u2026 kinda.<\/p>\n
We taxied out to the runway, sat for a peculiar amount time before the captain came over the intercom just one more time.<\/p>\n
\u201cFolks, I really hate to tell you this, but I\u2019m getting an excessively high oil temp reading on one of our engines and I am going to have to take us back to the gate.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I can\u2019t really think of another way to say this, but\u2026 people lost their minds.<\/p>\n Everybody tried booking another flight\u2026 nope, not gonna happen.<\/p>\n One guy \u2018demanded\u2019 information, from the poor lady who knew even less than we did.<\/p>\n And, the language was\u2026 well, flowery.<\/p>\n It was quite an uncomfortable episode, but honestly\u2026 a little entertaining (I know that\u2019s just wrong, sorry).<\/p>\n My first thought personally was, \u201cHey, I\u2019d rather be late and safe than on time and falling out the sky!\u201d<\/p>\n Just a thought anyway.<\/p>\n I really kept it together, I was glad I didn\u2019t go into the mob mentality, start foaming at the mouth and biting heads off of random airline employees\u2026 besides, I don\u2019t use that kind of language. It\u2019s hard to be too mouthy when you usually end a sentence with, \u201cCan I get an amen?\u201d<\/p>\n I began to think that I had finally arrived! Spiritually mature, finally.<\/p>\n You see, there\u2019s that passage in Titus talking about older men where it says:<\/p>\n Titus 2:2 tESV)<\/p>\n 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Sober-minded, self controlled, dignified\u2026 yep, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n Except last week when I lost it when that GPS app stopped working.<\/p>\n Or, when I threw a private fit because I was having to say the same thing to the same person for the same reason for the thousandth time.<\/p>\n Or, when I raged on the steering wheel after I got caught in rush hour traffic\u2026 by the grain elevator.<\/p>\n Hmmm\u2026 so, maybe I haven\u2019t arrived.<\/p>\n Still, I think I do know why I was able to let all the trouble roll on during this airport fiasco. Over my years of ministry I have learned to distinguish between real problems and first world problems.<\/p>\n When you have seen the absolute and prison-like devastation of poverty in a country like Haiti.<\/p>\n When you have felt though cold and cruel grip of repression while serving in \u201cEastern Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n When you have first hand experienced with the isolation and persecution of a place in \u201cAsia\u201d where your beleifs are not the majority, they are not even tolerated\u2026 then you begin to see things differently.<\/p>\n Worst case scenario here in the airport is that we all spend the night here\u2026 in a perfectly safe building\u2026 with air conditioning\u2026 restaurants\u2026 and wifi.<\/p>\n Sometimes we think we have problems, but what most of us really have are inconveniences.<\/p>\n It would do us good every now and again to remember the things that make us mad, hostile, rude and miserable, are actually a privilege in other parts of, in fact most of, the world.<\/p>\n So, you’ve got problems, but they are first world problems.<\/p>\n Well, we should hear from the mechanics in about 10 minutes, and we\u2019ll know our fate. Until then, I\u2019ll just sit here typing on my Mac, eating my McDonald\u2019s salad while I charge my phone\u2026 suffering for Jesus.<\/p>\n Pray for me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I am attending a meeting this week in Atlanta\u2026 well, at least I hope I am. Right now I am sitting in Dallas, stranded with about 300 of my newest friends. We should have been to Atlanta about\u2026. wait for it\u2026 one minute ago, but here we sit in the Lone Star state. It started … <\/p>\n