The other day I had the very pleasant opportunity (yes, that was sarcasm) of spending over five long hours in the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. I was between flights and– with already having a several hour layover and then a delayed flight on top of that– I was stuck there. For a very long time.
Now normally–which will come to no surprise to those who know me–I will while away at least some of those hours by finding someone to talk to. But that particular day I wasn’t really in a talking mood. Last week was a rough one and, honestly, I just didn’t feel like talking. And so I sat in the airport, watching people when I wasn’t being entertained by my iPad.
During the time I was there, two honor flights came in. As the elderly men–veterans of World War II or the Korean War– were wheeled into the airport, almost all of those near me stood to their feet out of respect and started clapping, until all around me the sound of applause rang out for these men who had faithfully served their country.
It was a beautiful moment.
You know, we still are privileged to enjoy a lot of beautiful moments, aren’t we? Sure, the world is headed a wrong direction and the church is going along right with it but that doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy life!
While this isn’t really a post that is part of the Learn to Discern series, in some ways I feel it should be. You see, when we learn to discern we can develop a really negative outlook on life if we aren’t careful. We can become those people who always see the glass half-empty and who steal the enjoyment from the lives of others with our constant negative commentary about the state of the world.
But there are still so many beautiful moments. In airports. In our homes with our families. On the ball fields. In stores. On the highway. In our churches.
Moments where we still see people sacrificing their own desires for the sake of someone else. Honoring someone. Loving someone. Serving someone.
We can find these moments almost anywhere we are, if we just keep our eyes open to look for them!
Let’s not grow so frustrated or saddened by the state of the world and church that we allow it to rob us of our joy. Life is still so good. God is so faithful. He loves us and He still gives us so many beautiful moments. Let’s not lose sight of this as we learn to discern.