The flight from Phoenix to Dallas is only a couple of hours, but in those two hours lots can happen. Today I was introduced to two new friends. One was a physician/professor from Oakland and the other a middle school teacher and church music director from Houston. It was two hours of intellectual and generous exchanges of ideas, our personal lives, insights, experiences, good stories, a menagerie of stimulating conversation.
Two hours, that was all. But it was a serendipity that left me not weary from travel but highly stimulated because of It. My new friends, Don and Thor, turned an otherwise unremarkable day into a very significant one
My reflections highlighted how much changes in just two hours; how life introduces us to immediate transitions right before our eyes. The parade of life can just pass by or we can be a part of it. We can sit on the sidelines and just observe or get in the middle of it and discover new thrills for living. We can doze our way through what might be an otherwise provocative moment. We can turn our head away and feign the need for privacy. There are times for that, to be sure. But, when the chemistry is right and the players are ready then the stage is set for a wonderful drama.
On my lap was Barack Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope, which provided some stimulus for our conversation. However, we did not invest great deal of time on politics. Ideas, yes, politics as a subheading only.
I was especially happy when I observed a woman, who was boarding, looking at the book on my lap, shook her head and moved to find another seat.
Arbitrary seat mates can make a huge difference in your day. Being open to that, on the part of both or all parties, contributes to learning and discovery.
Today is a different kind of day. This morning I will be sharing an hour or so with family and friends of the couple I told about in Tuesday's column. The dialog this time will range from unexpected to exhilarating as we sort through memories together. It will be occasion for tears and laughter. But more, it will be an opportunity to experience the redemptive relationship of friends and family holding one another up.
Life moves from moment to moment, and like a leaf caught in the moving stream we make our way to that vast ocean where all of us complete our journey.
So, come with me today and celebrate the joy of the unexpected, the satisfaction of new discoveries, the excitement of fresh and genuinely halting moments for heart and soul and mind and body. Remember to breathe deeply, to walk briskly, to embrace the world enthusiastically. Today's gift is yours to help create. Make it another one to remember. ,
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