Flight and Arrival

The Saturday of our departure arrived and about mid-morning, it was discovered that our flight had been delayed. So with a bit of scrambling from our group leader and the travel agent, we got a later flight. Instead of flying from Indy --> DC -->  Frankfurt -->  Beirut, we went through Chicago and London instead. 

So we boarded the tiny regional jet to Chicago. Once there, we had a long layover before departure for Heathrow, so the small eight-member team enjoyed a short break before the eight-hour flight. I took two laps and took in the many languages at this International Airport. 

Finally, the flight was called and we all boarded the plane for the long-haul flight. As I settled in to journal and flip through the 5 movies that were available, I considered the prayer for today in "Seeking God's Face," based on the Heidelberg Catechism: "Captain of my life, help me grasp the cosmic battle that rages in my heart and throughout the world. I'm in a fight far beyond my strength and understanding, so I pray that you make me wise and strong. Outfit me with all your spiritual armor, so that I can stand and not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle..."

I was about to enter a region where this spiritual battle was very visible and often acted out with very real substantial weapons. This was even more dramatically shown as we landed in the airport: I saw a brief glimpse of a tank or an anti-aircraft gun. 

The acts of violence in the United States by angry and sick individuals is only a small fraction of the desolation and brokenness that is acted out all over the world. My mind goes back to Romans 8:22.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.