i’m currently en route to portland from my visit to indiana. just took off from minneapolis [layover] about half an hour ago. funny how much thinking you can do in such a short period of time…
i have this bad habit of gluing my face to the window whenever i’m near a window in a plane while it takes off. i’ve done it ever since I was a kid. so, naturally, as the plane sped down the runway and into the sky, I squished my forehead up against the smudgy little window. i’ve done this [literally] hundreds of times but, for some reason, the view from beyond that particular two-paned window caught me off guard. the sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon. the sky was a vivid purple and red and the earth beneath it seemed to be soaking in a deep golden glow. scattered lakes glistened as they absorbed the last light of the day, the trees around them adding to the beauty of the scene, and even the towering buildings of downtown st. paul seemed beautiful as they gleamed against the sun. much to my surprise, I found myself nearly breathless at its simple beauty. as the plane sped on towards the west coast, i hurried to inhale as much of the scene as i could. something on the distant ground below caught my eye and i watched the tiny specks of a cars as they traveled down the freeway. i zoned in on one car and wondered about the people in it. who were they? where were they going? what was their story? the car was soon out of view, but my mind continued that train of thought as i gazed out over the city below: lines of houses, lit-up baseball fields, the large outlines of schools. so many people call this city home. i began to wonder about their lives. what are their stories? how many of them are happy and loved? how many are heartbroken? how many of them worship the same GOD that i do? here I am, pouting over my trivial problems, but how blessed am i compared to so many of them?
