En Route

A couple of us got some sleep on the overnight leg from Phoenix to Charlotte, and as we await our final flight from Charlotte to San Jose, Costa Rica, I (Glenn) was wandering around the Charlotte airport looking for a Starbucks. I stumbled across a sign that said "Catholic Mass 10:30, Inter-Faith Service 9:30." I looked at my watch, which read 9:27, and thought, "It was meant to be; guess I have to." An elderly priest (black coat, white collar and all) sat with 3 or 4 travelers in the small airport Auditorium/Conference Room. They welcomed me in, relaying that this was going to be a super-informal deal. The priest explained that he had planned on sharing a story from the gospel of John, and then we'd just visit. When he said he would like to talk about the story of Lazarus, one of the other travelers grabbed out his iPhone Bible Application and said, "What chapter?" I said "I KNOW THIS! John 11!" We had just studied this the last couple weeks in our Sunday morning service in Butteville. While the priest didn't have the flair of Pastor Ken, he shared an interesting insight that I thought I would share with you all.
He pointed out that this is one of the rare passages of the gospel where Jesus is not with his disciples, or with crowds, or in the synagogue, but instead, he is with his "friends." This offers us a special look into the humanity of our Savior. I got to thinking, that we often lose sight of this deep emotional connection Christ had with his friends, and those he was in relationship with. Ultimately, this is a reminder of the desired connection we are intended to have with God. The priest mentioned the importance of us not losing sight of this "soul" (as he put it)-connection we are to have with our Savior. I couldn't stop hearing Pastor Ken's description of this same concept: our "Yetzer." I thought that was an encouraging note to start off this Sunday morning. We'll touch base when we land in Costa Rica. Thank you all for your prayers!