Advent Traveling Mercies

The long day of journeying back to the rectory is nearly half way through. As much as I love to visit places away from home, I still struggle with the anxiety of the uncertainty of travel. I tend to do pretty well, usually, with the changes and chances of ordinary daily life;  I like to think it's because I trust God for pretty much whatever happens. Travel that involves airplanes has countless opportunities for disaster, most of which are out of my control. 

The fact that I would use disaster for most of those things that are simply inconveniences speaks to a place for continued spiritual growth.  When the anxiety mounts, I try to remember to pray. I've also been learning to do a mantra of reminders--did I ever not make it to where I was going?  Did I ever die?

Of course not. 

The other place that God and I are working on is the inconvenience and uncertainty of delays. Somewhere on this trip I heard something about the gift of delays.  They give us a time to slow down; to even be a kind of Sabbath. 

This reminds me of the joke of not praying for the gift of patience because we might not like the answer to that prayer.  If I'm honest I'd prefer not to have the opportunity to practice the gift of delay. 

So here I am at the Albequerque airport with time to spare--extra time to visit with my best friend before we get on our different planes. There was even time to stop at our favorite coffee place in Santa Fe, Downtown Subscription, where we shared one of the fabulous local donuts (ahh vacation).

After 9 days of snow, my coat, hat, and gloves are packed until my next trip. For today, I am always, ever learning the truth from the One who has never, is never, will never let me down, and learning that the inconveniences and delays may often contain the very best surprises.