Flying seems to be one of life's great necessities of the modern age, drastically reducing the time we take to get to any major city and also making the world a smaller place. Airports are such busy places with aeroplanes constantly landing and taking off and sometimes I wish I could view the earth from space, just close enough to be able to see the hundreds of planes and thousands of passengers in the air at any given moment, just to get some grasp on the complex airways of our skies and the brilliance of air traffic controllers. When I was young, the sound of a plane overhead would send me rushing into the back yard and I would search the skies diligently until I could spot a faint fuselage reflecting the sun's rays in my direction. It was some time before experience and my Science knowledge helped me to understand that light travels more quickly than sound and soon I discovered that scanning ahead of where I heard the noise always brought the plane into focus more clearly. Nowadays, I'm still fascinated by the passing of an aircraft over my house, especially those that have already begun their descent into the international airport and are low enough in the sky to allow me to identify the airline, but in any given morning, ten or more planes might cross our home on their flight path so it is a less momentous event and often amounts to little more than background noise. I've never been totally comfortable with flying and I don't think that it is genetic, though my dad would 'never have been caught dead in one of those things' and mum left her couple of flying experiences until most of her life had been spent on safe ground and an abrupt end in a plane crash would have seemed less untimely. Almost every passenger at some stage, has had an aeroplane experience they would rather forget but love to remember in vivid and occasionally exaggerated detail, during conversation. And the list is endless. I've never been present for a highjacking or thwarted attempt, an unruly or physically aggressive passenger, a severe illness on board, or even a plane malfunction but I have experienced a near miss during landing, plenty of turbulence, less than pleasant cabin crew, meals that remained untouched, bumpy landings, and passengers in the next seat that would be unlikely to make my Christmas card list. And I'm always slightly uneasy during the safety procedure explanation when the announcer begins with those famous words, 'In the unlikely event of....'. Maybe it's because I've seen too many unlikely events happen in sport and aren't most accidents unlikely events anyway? I presume it's meant to make me feel at ease, but I can't help thinking that, in the panic that would ensue, I could never follow procedures, no matter how well intentioned. And I've yet to see a plane load of survivors bobbing around in their inflated life jackets, blowing whistles and shining torches.
But in all my years of flying, I've never seen the Captain. The voice that I hear through the loudspeaker, telling me where I am, what height I am, how fast I am travelling, how long I have left belongs to an invisible person who has got me this far and will bring me where I want to go. Now that's what I call Faith.In his writings to the Hebrews, Paul says ' Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see,' and continues throughout chapter 11, to remind us of how some lived out this faith in practice.
Someday, I hope to go into the cockpit and meet the Captain and his crew. But until then, I'll just rely on the fact that I know he's there and is in full control. Have a good flight!
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