This weekend’s flight into Boston was my second one ever and the second time in under a year. Last year’s visit was with a group of colleagues heading for a teacher’s convention. For this year’s version I was alone, going  to visit family in the area. The trip went well. No drama. No stories to relate to the folks back home. Pretty dull except for the view out the window.

When I fly, usually I’m an aisle guy and that was the case this trip as well.  Last year’s trip I was in the middle of pretty good nap when we descended over Boston Harbor to the airport. I missed the whole thing.   This time I was determined to catch the bay view.

And I did! Three seats away from the small porthole size window I saw small swatches of the harbor. I couldn’t make out much, just a little bit at a time. I wanted to see more, larger chunks of the beautiful bay. I guess the only one with the big picture was the pilot. I wasn’t in that seat. That’s a good thing.

I did mange to capture a window seat on the bus, the Silver Line, that took me from the airport to South Station where I was to catch a train to my final destination.  It was a bigger window, indeed, covered with a layer of winter grime that dulled the view. A view which changed little as we crawled though stop-and-go, mostly stopped, traffic. 

Inching along like that was frustrating. I couldn’t see where we were going, what was ahead or why we were going so stinking slow. Frustrating, yes. But I thought more than once that I was sure glad I wasn’t driving. The bus driver knew the road, knew how to get to our destination and could safely negotiate the bus around whatever obstacles were slowing us down. Indeed, I’m glad I wasn’t driving.

I made it to my final destination without a problem. I greeted my family, played ‘Sorry’, tramped around in snow that reached to my knees. We ate supper and as is the practice read from the Bible – Psalm 23… Another window. 

There are times when I wonder what’s ahead for me, where am I going, what does the future hold? But sometimes I can’t see past the next few days or weeks. I can’t seem to get the wide view, the big picture.  My window is too small. I can’t see where God is leading, yet I wonder.  So, today’s gift is the realization that I am not in the pilot’s seat or driving the bus, but…

“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalm 23

Today’s gift…