A collision of ordinary moments

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to collide with the supernatural in the ordinary moments of your day? To gaze dimly into another day, and for one unexpected moment, glimpse the image of Jesus in its reflection? Such was my experience one warm spring day.

My daughter and I were on our way home from a family wedding. The lazy morning of our home-going began with an ordinary prayer. Two words made their way into my consciousness: “I’m available.” Funny, my early meditations rarely shape themselves with such clarity. But such sentiments, I discovered, allow the divine agenda to eclipse the human order of things.

Seat 8B on the plane was comfortably close to the front of the aircraft and conveniently located beside my daughter’s preferred window seat. Book in hand, I was prepared for the two-hour flight that would shuttle us back to our routines, savouring these uninterrupted hours for delicious leisure.

The man who took the aisle seat appeared self-absorbed and distant, ensuring little of the characteristic banter of two strangers who share an armrest made for one. Unlike me, he was content to sit with his thoughts and a cup of coffee.

Midway through the flight, my reading was interrupted by my daughter’s need to get up and use the restroom, resulting in the usual body gymnastics for our little row. The silence between the aisle stranger and me was broken by a short exchange. It morphed into a full-blown conversation about his business.

Discovering he was a successful entrepreneur, I was curious to engage him in matters of leadership practice. I would have been content to leave matters on this level, but the Spirit was just getting started. As I resumed my reading, it was the man’s turn to be curious. “What do you do?” he inquired.

My response elicited the usual surprise. A mid-life woman in a seminary program was indeed peculiar, and I anticipated it would shut down further conversation. Instead, it invited vulnerability. I became something of his confessor, suspended between earth and heaven in a flying sanctuary.

A beautiful story tumbled out of the man’s heart from all its secret corners. The “business trip” he was returning from was to have been the official launch for an affair that had been simmering for months in that city. The two were to fly to a hot destination, forever leaving behind his commitment of nearly three decades of marriage.

But something extraordinary happened in the solitude of his hotel room. He came face to face with the man he had become and recoiled at the reflection. He took the steps necessary to end the relationship and was now flying home to take his wife on the holiday adventure that, days before, would have divorced him from all that deeply mattered.

My heart stood at attention as he recounted the details of his awakening, certain of God’s presence in the inches that separated us. He spoke of his devout late father and his believing sister, and I wondered at the divine weaving of faithful prayers. I marvelled at God’s gracious design to use my words to thread truth into this man’s heart.

After assuring him he was doing the right thing, only one observation pushed its way forward. “God’s fingerprints are all over your experience. He’s got his hand on you,” I said reverently.

We spent the remainder of the flight talking about God and church. I encouraged him to explore Jesus Christ, whatever that would look like in his hometown. He nodded in agreement.

As the plane touched down, he shook his head in disbelief and marvelled at his unedited self-disclosure with a total stranger. Both of us agreed that our seat arrangement was beyond coincidence.

Then, as we de-planed, I felt a tug on my shoulder bag as my aisle-friend made a mysterious deposit. “Give this to your church,” he said as we parted ways. When he was a safe distance away, I reached into my bag and unfolded three one-hundred dollar bills.

Tears of gratitude spilled down my cheeks. “Thanks, God, for honouring my morning prayer and awakening my senses to the kingdom gravity of the moment.”

This is the extravagant life we’re called to live as redeemed people of God: perceiving the whispers of heaven in common conversations and offering the uncommon love of Jesus to the spiritually hungry. There is no greater feast on this planet!

Jan Woltmann is a member of The Meeting Place, Winnipeg.