Tag: travel

Closer to the Source

lakeshore_01

It is a holiday weekend. Many of us are flocking to places where we experience the meeting of the elements. We seem drawn to places where air, water and land come together. Such places tend to be refreshing, invigorating, and we get the sense of sharing something together. Many of our best memories are of times together in such places.

Maybe there is something else. May we recall something primal, elements of wind (or spirit in Biblical language), land, water, and place made for us and all living creatures. There, we are closer to the source.  For the Christian this may lead to a further connection, with heaven and earth coming together in Christ, the Word of creation (John 1). Maybe it’s a less obvious but powerful way in which we are drawn to him, and why he has the ability, as well as the will, to bring together the various elements of our life and make whole people of us.

Photo: Lake Ontario at Ajax, Ontario

Forced Landing

Just read about the most recent occurrence of an airliner making an unscheduled stop because of an unruly passenger. This one was en route to the U.K. from Vancouver, but headed back to Halifax from somewhere over Newfoundland. A 51 year-old man was throwing water on passengers and crew, threatening the crew, and “acting strangely,” according to the CBC report. When the plane landed, the man was arrested and taken to hospital to be assessed.

That last detail, about hospital is important. When the plane was in the air, all that mattered was the safety of all on board and getting the man under control. Once safely on the ground, apart from the inconvenience to passengers (not to be minimized) and expense to the airline, there is a concern about this man, with whom everything obviously is not right. Literally bringing people down with him (from the sky) may, in addition, be a picture of what he is doing with people around him in his life, since it seems unlikely this episode just came out of the blue while in the blue. Of course he will have to face whatever legal ramifications await. And maybe that will be the beginning of a new part of his journey, for him and for all he knows.