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Note #8080 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Flying Lessons
04032
January 20, 2004

Flying Lessons

A message to the Presbyterian Church (USA) from the moderator

by The Rev. Susan R. Andrews
Moderator, 215th General Assembly

BETHESDA, MD - I have flown almost everywhere I have traveled this year.
Taking to the air has taught me some important lessons about life:

We're all in this together: The intimate ritual at the security checkpoint
never ceases to amaze me. Off come the belts, the jewelry, the jackets, and
the shoes. Strangers pat me down. When my moderatorial cross triggers the
alarm, dozens of people stare me down. There is no aristocracy or pecking
order. Unless you're a pilot late for her plane, you stand in line like
everyone else. We become community-dependent on each other for a safe and
smooth process. Maybe, if Palestinians and Israelis, angry wives and
philandering husbands, conservative Presbyterians and liberal Presbyterians
had to stand together in a security line for several days, we might indeed
have peace on earth.

The big picture is breathtaking: Whenever I gaze down upon the beauty of
Washington, DC, or the vast fertility of our American cropland, or the
splendor of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, I am reminded of how insignificant I
am in the vast panoply of God's imagination. I may be fretting about what I
am going to say at the next meeting, but then I gaze out the plane window and
find comfort in the fact that who I am and what I say is God's creation, not
mine. I am but a walk-on in this drama called life.

We are not in charge: I was stranded out of state when the floods hit the
Baltimore area last year. On another trip, my plane sat on the runway for an
hour because Air Force One had priority. A week ago, I flew in and out in 24
hours-both times in sleet and snow.  There was nothing I could do about any
of it. And yet, as a result of these unexpected delays, I had dinner with a
stranger and shared wonderful conversation about motherhood. I got to read a
novel for the first time in weeks. And in the midst of sleet and snow, I
found myself deep in prayer, finding my weary soul filled with God's fresh
energy. Thanks be to God for these reminders that we are not in charge, but
that God's time is always creative time.

One of my lasting memories of Africa is of flying in the co-pilot's seat in a
nine-passenger plane. Below was the landscape of western Ethiopia, a
breathtaking quilt of greens and yellows. No power lines, no skyscrapers, not
even a paved highway in sight. Captain Solomon kept pointing out the hidden
jewels of his native land. As I felt our lives blend together, as I marveled
at God's creation, and as I reminded myself of countless unexpected gifts, I
was filled with gratitude for the providential, life-changing grace of God.

My friends, buckle up for the year that stretches ahead of us. Look for the
big picture, savoring the people who share this ride. And give thanks that
our sovereign and saving God is in the cockpit, guiding us to the places we
need to go.

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