PROOF OF PROGRESS
by Dr. Glenn Mathews
“How are things going?” is a common question used in greeting a friend. We have all asked it and had it asked of us. Usually, the person doesn’t really want an answer, so I (perhaps you, too) generally say, “fine”. But is it “fine” as in “everything is going smoothly” or as in “I am stretched so far that I am so fine (thin) I am about to snap”?
How can we tell that things are “fine”? Is it because they are going smoothly? In our travels overseas, Fleta and I have often found ourselves subjected to extremely long hours spent in very small seats, crowded like a tin of human sardines! Outside the plane there is total darkness. We have no idea of how high or how fast we are traveling. In fact, after hearing the hum of the engines for hours, we even become numb to any sensation of movement!
I remember a 15-hour flight, much of it at night. Many of the passengers were asleep, and most of the others were trying to get to sleep. Fleta, bless her, has difficulty sleep-ing on a plane. If we could have afforded first class, she would have had a seat that converts into a bed, (well, almost to a bed), but we were stuck in coach… So, what did she do? She did what she often does in such cases. She just lies on the floor near my feet with pillow and blanket and curls herself into a small ball. Then, she can sometimes sleep.
Once, when she was sleeping during a very smooth flight, the plane suddenly dropped a few feet! The common term is “we hit an air pocket”. How one can hit a pocket of air, I don’t know; but apparently, we did it. She woke up and asked, “what happened”? I, in my wisdom, said, “We hit an air pocket”. After a few seconds, she said, “Well, at least that shows that we are making progress”. She was right, of course.
Sometimes the only way we will know that we’re making progress spiritually is that we occasionally hit a “bump” on the journey. When it happens, just THANK GOD — WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS!