The announcement by an airline pilot warning of turbulence is not my favorite thing to hear. In fact, when we do fly through turbulence it scares the living daylights out of me. I mean, when you are speeding through the skies in a huge ellipse, and you hit the pocket that has the whole thing rocking and rolling and feeling like you're on a really bumpy road, except you know there's no road , just exactly what do you grab to make you feel safe? Because the truth is, whatever you are holding onto for dear life is going to go careening out of the sky right along with you....with your cold dead fingers still in their white knuckled grip!
As much as I loved my trip to Estonia this summer, every time the captain turned on the seatbelt light and lightheartedly talked about turbulence, I had a surges of angst.... and not just because the young man from South Africa seated next to me on the first leg home announced that he had been up all night drinking in Tallinn and was likely to hose the area with.....well, you get the idea.
Turbulence. A nice fancy word for an experience of extreme discomfort. And we don't have it just while flying. It comes at us in many forms and along several paths of life.
Like today - the earthquake that shook the entire East coast. I have to admit that when I saw the filing cabinets rocking back and forth, I was more than a little scared. In one fleeting moment I wondered what the heck I should do if it didn't stop....and realized that I have no clue what the crisis procedure is for an earthquake! ugh.
This summer has had other forms of turbulence. Like the group of kids who broke just about every rule on the Harvest of Hope mission trip I was leading. Getting dragged out of bed at 1:45 a.m. to go trekking through the woods to make a bunch of teenagers go back to their cabins and go to bed after an exhausting week of gleaning and trying to get them to comply with the covenants they signed is not my idea of fun. Wow if that wasn't a run on sentence, I don't know what is! But I digress....
And you're right Dorothy, there's no place like home....at least when it comes to the turbulence that can rock the family. No need to go into particulars.....we all have these times, whether in the extended family or the one under our roof....and though they as unique as the family that walks through it, there is no doubt in my mind that it is a painful journey. And sometimes we find we are being hit on all sides at the same time. And it's enough to make me wish I were back in that airplane that I dread.
And don't even get me started about financial and employment crises. When I blogged earlier at the start of the new year that I had no idea what people would be entering and exiting my life this year, I hadn't even entertained the idea that I would lose 46 colleagues in one fell swoop. I can only hope that they are not all gone forever even if we aren't together on a daily basis this school year and in the future.
So just how does one buckle the seatbelt against such things?
I find myself in the mornings now saying "God, I am not even going to get out of bed today until I can feel Your presence." Probably the best seatbelt there is.
And I have had to allow myself to be cared for and accept help from some people with whom I would not otherwise have made or deepened connections. As difficult as that is for me, I am deeply grateful for them and all they have done to sustain me.
Turbulence - have you ever noticed that they don't seem to fly you around it, or under it.....seems you just have to go right through it. And maybe it's just me, but when I'm up above those breathtaking puffy clouds, I do feel a little closer to God....which is, I suppose, the best place to be in the midst of turbulence.
So I guess it's time to buckle the seatbelt, hang on, and dream of a smooth landing. Hoping you can do the same.
