The propeller spun slowly to a halt. We were two hours from the nearest land and thousands of feet above the whitecaps on the Pacific Ocean.
We were on the last leg of our journey back from Japan. To say that there was some apprehension on the plane is probably an understatement. But I wasn’t afraid. Now, some might say that a young boy my age then didn’t know enough to be afraid. But that wasn’t the reason I felt so calm. You see, I wasn’t afraid because my Dad was on the plane. He was with me on this last leg of that journey. And he was a pilot. In training he had covered this sort of situation many times. In actual flight, he had been in worse situations than this. He knew that everything was under control and so I felt no fear . . . because my Father was with me.
So we returned to Hawai’i and enjoyed a few days on Waikiki and began this last leg of the journey again. Now, I loved flying. I was in no hurry for this trip to come to an end. But I was really excited about the trip that would follow. We would pick up our new car in California, drive across the desert and through the mountains on our way to family. I knew I was going to see the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, the Grand Canyon and the spectacular western Rockies of Colorado. Places I had heard about, dreamed about, imagined for a long time, but had never seen. As much as I was enjoying the journey I was on, I was eagerly anticipating the next journey.
Realistically, I am on what is most likely the last leg of my journey through this part of my life. At least for sure there are a lot more miles behind me than lie ahead. I had the privilege this morning of being one of the “Golden Grads” at the commencement at Southern Nazarene University, and it brought to mind the leg of the journey that took me through those growing years as a college student 50 years ago. There have been several legs of this journey along the way, and each in its own way has been good, very good.
I’m not in any hurry for this leg of the journey to come to an end because I’m really, really enjoying this journey. But, oh how I’m anticipating the next journey when this one does come to an end. I’ve read a lot about it, dreamed of it, imagined what it might be like, even talked with friends and with congregations about that journey. But I’ve never been there, and sometimes I acknowledge that I don’t even have any idea what it will be like, except that it will be great! So this isn’t a morbid thought; journeys come and go all the time, and in life at its best, the next journey always keeps beckoning and calling us forward.
This last leg may not always be smooth flying. I’m not sure that any of the others has been either. But I’ve never been fearful when I remembered that my Father was with me on the journey. He’s been there before, and He keeps saying, “Peace”!
I hope this journey continues for many more years. There’s so much more to enjoy. But I can tell you, there’s nothing like the journey that lies ahead. With my Father.
