Getting perspective

Yesterday morning I took a United flight from San Diego to Denver, and then on to Des Moines, returning home from a business conference.

By the time I boarded the plane I was fuming. I'd had the usual problems with getting a taxi at 4:30am, then the boarding agent told me they'd given my reserved aisle seat to an elderly man who needed to go to the bathroom frequently. The security guards gave me the usual "extra" attention for a man traveling alone. I found myself stuffed into a cramped window seat, adjacent to a, uh, "generously-sized" man taking more than his half out of the middle space between us. He fell asleep before takeoff and snored loudly, occasionally flailing his arm over me. I was mentally composing my complaint letter to United. (My laptop wasn't working, but I couldn't have retrieved it from under the seat anyway, not with Bubba flowing on me.) I was annoyed. I was ticked-off. My pride was on Full Power, my intellect fully focused on my rights, and woe-betide anyone crossing my path today!

I should have remembered -- the Lord has plans.

About 7am I glanced out the window and was stunned by the site of the Grand Canyon, illuminated by the low sun in the clear sky. The colors were magnificent; the scale was hard to absorb. Pictures do not do it justice. It was HUGE, even from 35,000 feet up. I never would have seen that from my original aisle seat, on the other side of the plane. Psalm 8 popped into my mind -- "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth."

Just that fast my attitude shifted. I confessed silently my pride, my contempt for the man next to me, my wasted thoughts. It was a holy time, a re-connecting time. Ah, Sovereign Lord, you are so good to us. Thank you. Thank you.