Those People In the Airport

I wrote last week that one of the things that I do regularly at this stage in my life is read.   A second thing that I enjoy doing at this stage in my life is travelling.   I recall that my Grandpa Perry died at age 65 without ever even seeing the Atlantic Ocean.   I cannot say the same.  I have had the privilege to travel to many states and a few foreign countries.   One of the things that you are doing if you travel by plane is spend time in airports.   Though airports are pretty much the same, what stands out for me in airports is the people you see.    Sometimes when I am in an airport, I will put down the book or newspaper I am reading and simply observe the people that I see as they move from terminal to plane, plane to terminal.  

I have found myself at times rushing to judgments about people thinking to myself I would not do what I see them doing or I would not dress the way they are dressed.   I have observed people treating what perhaps were family members or airline employees in ways that were not positive or kind.   Lately, when I find myself rushing to judgment about people I see in the airport, I attempt to choose a different response to them.   That response is that I have begun praying for them.     While I know not their name or their needs, I have simply lifted them up to our God who knows all of us better than we know ourselves.   

I wonder what the world would be like and what we would be like if each of us would pause before we respond to others or pass judgment on them and simply utter a prayer for the persons we encounter or observe in the airport, the neighborhood, the restaurant, or in our workplace?    Though Jesus certainly never travelled via an airplane,  I think he got at this issue when he said in the sermon on the mount:  "Judge not, lest you be judged."      Have a joy-filled week. -   Pastor Randy Wall