It was 1999 while on a flight home from a business meeting. I didn鈥檛 realize then that within a few days it would never again be possible. In short, I was invited to enter the cockpit of the plane and speak with the pilots.
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Both pilot and co-pilot took time to explain the function of artificial horizons, pressure gauges, TCAS (traffic collision avoidance system), warning lights and a host of other technological wonders.
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The TCAS fascinated me. According to the captain, if another object enters their air space, or if they come too close to the ground, 鈥渟ome one yells at us,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are no lights or no alarm sounded鈥� we get screamed at and given instructions on how to get out of the situation.鈥� I was really glad to hear that - standing in a cockpit when you鈥檙e 28,000 feet above the ground is a whole lot different than reading about these things while seated in the living room.
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But I also looked far beyond the instrument panels. Flying over the prairies in September provided a breathtaking view of the colours of harvest. Plumes of smoke or dust told me that farmers were probably combining or burning stubble. Hectares of grey or gold or green gave me a good idea of what was going on in each field.
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A change of perspective was, for me, both exhilarating and reassuring. Instead of seeing only the condition of one field, I caught the vision of a wider view, of an expanse of beauty from the air. Remembering to look at life like that 鈥� from God鈥檚 perspective 鈥� changes ours. While we see only the challenges of today, He knows the end from the beginning.
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鈥淢y times are in your hand,鈥� said the Psalmist (Psalm 31:15). I say 鈥渁men,鈥� - there鈥檚 no safer place to be.
