Saturday, September 6, 2014

Thoughts from Above the Clouds

     I love to fly. I always have. It is simply breathtaking to me to see the vibrant colors, the clouds that look like cotton candy strewn across the vast blue sky, and the awareness of how small I really am in the grand scheme of things. I've also always found it fascinating to think about how I can sit in a giant metal tube and fly thousands of feet up in the sky at speeds I could never dream of in a car. How can I just be suspended like that? Sure, it's physics, but it's simply amazing to think about. Mind blown.

     Tonight, however, as I boarded the plane and was launched into the open air, many thoughts pushed their way into my mind. The slow and steady incline had me thinking about the hundreds of people sitting all around me. We were all off to Boston, but what was each of their stories? Why was the elderly couple two seats ahead of me on this plane? What was taking them to Boston? Or the young woman with a baby? Why was she traveling alone with a baby? Was she traveling to see family? Was she traveling to see friends? What was her story? What was the story of the young man looking somber just a few seats away? Was he leaving his family? Had he just learned of some difficult news? My mind wandered and I was quickly reminded of our story and why we were off to Boston.


     Recently, our family suffered the loss of my husband's grandfather. He was a kind man, someone who always had a smile on his face, and though I didn't see him often in the few years we've been married, it was sad to hear of his death. This weekend, we will meet with family and friends to hold a memorial service for this dear man. What a life he lived; what a legacy he leaves behind. My mind began to wander even further.

     Flying always makes me feel like I'm closer to Heaven. I know that's an elemental way of thinking about Heaven, and quite honestly, it's likely inaccurate, but I think the beauty of the views I see as I fly makes me wonder what those who have gone before me see. If this isn't Heaven, then Heaven must be so incredibly amazing. The view I had on the plane tonight simply took my breath away and to post a picture doesn't do what I saw justice. But still, I wonder, are there sunsets like this in Heaven? Are there brilliant colors painting the sky like the hues of pink and orange I saw? Do those I've lost, who have gone to Heaven, find themselves utterly breathless at what they see each day?

     Somehow it's comforting to think that those I miss dearly have such a view...probably something more stunning than I could ever experience on this earth or in our atmosphere. When I think of all the grandeur that God created, I cannot help but feel somewhat close to those I've loved and lost as I fly way up in the sky. I cannot help but think that, perhaps, I am getting just a minuscule taste of what those who wait for me in Heaven may be experiencing. The sky has always been a reminder to me of a place where there's no more pain and no more suffering. It's always brought me a sense of peace and comfort and it reminds me each time that God is faithful. Just as the sun rises and falls each day, so He welcomes those who love Him into His arms and I will see those people again one day.

     Oh, how I long for the day in which I am reunited to those I love, sitting in the presence of the God who created such beauty and such magnificence. I find comfort in knowing that the view I had tonight, sitting in an airplane, is only a glimpse of the beauty I will one day see.