Hurry Up...and Wait

Shortly after 6:30am yesterday morning, we learned of our flight being delayed leaving Cincinnati by three hours. This set off a chain of events, culminating in missing our connecting flight in Paris. Luckily, our guide and tour company were on it and got things rearranged before we ever even left Cincinnati. We were instructed to be at Cincinnati's airport at 3:30 Friday afternoon...for our 9:15 flight!

The SMOY and LaSalle groups at the airport! 

Needless to say, we had PLENTY of time in the airport to check our bags, get through security, and enjoy a dinner of getting to know a few people on the pilgrimage prior to boarding our flight.  I call this the "hurry up...and wait" mentality that often accompanies pilgrimages. We hurry to get to one place, to spend some additional time waiting- waiting to go somewhere, waiting for our group members to arrive, waiting, waiting, waiting. As I sit here now, I am waiting six hours for our new flight to Tel Aviv to take off.

Enjoying fellowship and community around the table! 

Yet in this waiting, there is a sense of freedom. I am not in charge of this pilgrimage, and so I am along for the ride and adventure. I don't have to worry about getting us from one place to another. I don't have to fret about missed flight connections. I don't have to be in charge or control of anything. And you know, there is a huge sense of freedom. Perhaps it's the teacher in me, but there is definitely a tendency to want to have everything under control, all of the time, so that nothing goes "wrong" according to the plan. The reality is, sometimes, those "wrong" things that happen actually end up being blessings in disguise. What a blessing it was to just sit around with some of the other people on the pilgrimage yesterday over a meal and chat! How often do we really take the time to just slow down and be fully present to one another? How often do we surround ourselves with community and reap the rewards of the gift of another person's presence and conversation?

Jesus, on this pilgrimage, I pray for the grace to do just that- to slow down and let go of my agenda or my plans. Lord, help me to surrender all to you so that my mind and heart may clearly and freely encounter you in the places we go and the people we meet, which is your way of revealing yourself in an ever-deeper way to me. Amen

Next stop...Israel!

Blessings,
Julie