Terry Thompson’s Blog

Planning waypoints for a flight gets fairly routine, and setting them in becomes drudgery.  We don’t often think of them as anticipated milestones to a safe and successful flight.  As we fly the route watching the miles count down to zero, then take up a new course with a new distance remaining, we seldom celebrate the leg just flown.  We note the new winds and groundspeed, but how often do we think of the new leg as the next level of opportunity in the journey.  Tomorrow is Easter.  What a great time to meditate on the opportunities of the next route in life.  The resurrection was the turn point in the journey of mankind.  It made possible the opportunities we have to change direction and take up a new and better course.  Celebrate what God has done in your life and welcome with anticipation what He is about to do.  Happy Easter!

Goodbye VOR, LORAN, and NDB; hello GPS!  The principle that allows GPS to be the ultimate in navigational guidance is its “geostationary” character.  It is “out of this world” and therefore unlimited in range and free of interference.  It is virtually without error.  If the timing was off by just a thousandth of a second, it would cause a 200 mile error!  It cost over $12 billion ot develop, yet is available free to anyone who has an inexpensive instrument to access it.  The geostationary character of God makes Him the ultimate guide and the only One with precise knowledge of us.  He is the one and only in all creation that is absolutely stable and unchanging.  If a manmade satellite system can continuously locate and relay an exact address for every square yard on this planet, can’t the God who created you keep you in His care every second, 24/7/365?  But, we benefit from Him only if and when we tune Him in.

Like your flight plan, your plan will be changed more than once today. It has probably already happened by the time  you read this.  Count that as God’s divine intervention in your life.  It is likely an opportunity for Him to do something through you that will make a difference, large or small, that He wants in your life or someone else’s.  Always plan, but plan for a change in plans.  It makes life exciting!

Flight plans seem to get changed more often than not.  Sometimes you wonder why you even plan at all.  Why not just take off, point the aircraft in the general direction you are going, and take it as it comes?  Well, for one thing–and you know this–if you don’t plan well, everything would be surprising, and you would quickly become overwhelmed with chaos.  Also, if you don’t have a precise plan, you won’t know that a change or situation needs your attention and corrective action.   If you didn’t plan for an expected tail wind, that actual headwind wouldn’t be recognized as making any difference.  If you didn’t plan for a particular approach, you wouldn’t realize that a loss of DME capability would prevent you from using that approach.  In other words, an important part of our flight planning is to plan for a change of plans.  The planning for our everyday lives mirrors this reality.  Come back tomorrow for more on that.

It would be interesting to see how many of us regularly file VFR flight plans, how many just rely on ATC flight following, and how many don’t do either.  Please take time to respond with “Flight Plan,” Flight Following,” or “Neither.”

The next time you are airborne, take a moment to just soak in the indescribable scene in your windscreen.  Then relate all that is there to your cares and struggles.  It will probably cause you to reassess your worries, readjust your focus, and reenergize your efforts to work through the difficulties.  Our release from the bonds of earth to experience the expanse of our habitat simply reminds us that we can overcome anything in partnership with the Maker of it all.  What a great God we serve!

Remember the first time you were introduced to the basic, yet kind of complex, compass system?  You had to understand magnetic north, the magnetic field at the top of this old planet that is absolutely reliable.  Then there is that north star, the never-changing reference point in the night sky that has guided travelers for centuries.  God knew that we would be a traveling people–over land, over sea, and finally, in the air.  He purposefully placed the stationary star in the exact position of the universe and created a magnetic field in a perfect location.  Similary, God has established Himself as the unchanging magnetic north for our life journey.  He is the north star of our conscience and morality.  Our compass and octant instrument is the Bible with the influence of His Holy Spirit.  We are not created to live aimlessly and without direction.  Our Creator gave us unfailing references.  All we have to do is access them and follow them.

Gillespie Magee, Jr.’s poem, High Flight, relates to his WWII era flying and closes with, “I’ve…put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”  No one else can touch the face of God and relate to Him in the extraordinary way that has been reserved for the aviator.  I believe God wants us to use this unique advantage of flight to draw ourselves closer to Him and to enjoy more of the true abundance of life that is ours.

We are allowed to see the sun rise before anyone else and the sun set after everyone else, both unrestricted by the interferences of natural and man-made obstructions.  We see the horizons that no one else sees. A thousand ponds and lakes, the tops of the mountains, the meanderings of the rivers, the endless shades of greens and browns, all testify that our troubles are so small compared to God’s greatness.

Our view of the earth from the skies, high above the fray, is refreshing and reminds us of the relative insignificance of our worries.  We can see our fate a little closer to the way God sees it. The majesty and glory of God’s awesome creation–the beauty of His handiwork–helps us realize that His plan for us is much bigger than our present strife.

Aviators are a special bunch of people.  We are no better than anyone else–just blessed in a special way.  We get to see God’s creation from a unique perspective unimaginable before the last century.  We have an appreciation for nature’s beauty and an understanding of its power unmatched by the ground-bound.  Our joy of flying may ebb and flow with cirumstances in life, but it never ceases.  Once we experience the cockpit, the addiction never goes away. And, what a ride it is. This romance with the sky is a vital part of our lives and needs to be nurtured.  We should take time to ponder it.  The Creator instilled that passion within you.  He wants you to enjoy it and be fulfilled in it.