I look out the window and watch the plane head upwards.
Someone is heading somewhere, probably warm, off on a holiday or a break from the norm. If there is one advantage of living near Glasgow Airport, it’s seeing the number of aircraft flying above on their flight paths overhead.
Unlike many other people, I don’t mind flying: yes, the seats are a bit cramped; yes, the food isn’t very good; yes, some passengers can be a nightmare; yes, the security check-ins can be long, but besides these things, travelling can be an enjoyable experience and part of the fun.
When we headed to Greece last year, the family travelled by train to Manchester Airport and stayed the night there, before an early flight in the morning. I know I have shared with you the shock I received when I discovered, with my fish and chips in the airport restaurant, that my glass of white wine was £25!!
Stepping onto the moving walkway as we trundled our cases towards the departure gate, we all had a laugh, recalling Michael McIntyre’s comments about the people on and the people off them. Some people walking beside us who had shunned the moving ground that we had chosen, were moving quicker than we were.
And so, a race began!!
And it made me think, we all move at different paces through life and make different choices about how we travel. For some, the journey is at breakneck speed, while for others, the travelling is slower. I think we can all recall, as children, or even in our teenage years, that older age seemed a million miles away. Parents and grandparents, with the wisdom of age, tell us that life is short and that the best laid plans don’t always work out.
I remember during the COVID time, that in our daily prayers, I recalled that in the Bible we were given ‘three score years and ten.’
Andrea Thomson wasn’t happy with that prayer!!
As we begin our Lenten journey, I can’t help but think that after the experience on the mountain and that period of Transfiguration, Jesus turned his eyes to Jerusalem knowing about the agony and the sacrifice that lay ahead.
His ministry had been a short three years, and now, moving towards the city, life for him was soon to be curtailed.
Watching people coming to the end of the moving walkways, some people stumble, unprepared for the transition from one movement to another. Some reach out, imbalanced by the sudden decrease of speed, but all are focused on where they are going and don’t offer to help. They stumble, we have stumbled, caught out.
However we travel, even on moving walkways, we will inevitably have our stumbles. Such is life. Such is the unpredictability and the nature of the world that we live in just now.
People stumble, unbalanced, and reach out. Do we notice?
As we know, when the disciples gain a little glimpse of who Jesus is and what his ultimate plans are, they try to talk him out of it.
Recall Peter’s initial observation that Jesus ‘was the Christ’ and what followed after that!
Two more comments about stumbling –
those dedicated disciples become less than reliable and their promises fade, their loyalty somewhat limited. They lack courage and stumble.
And of course, Jesus, it could be argued, in the Garden of Gethsemane had some doubts, but after a moment of deep and profound prayer, moved towards the cross, the cross that he would struggle to hold and stumble on the way to Golgotha.
Moving walkways. Moving at speed or slow.
Both appear in our lives… take time to realise what will happen in that Holy Week journey… and yours.
Your friend and minister,
George C Mackay
