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Published: February 24th 2011
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God truly does provide. My journey started early this morning, or yesterday morning depending on how you look at it. It feels like it was this morning for me even though it is 6:56pm tomorrow. So it was early this yesterday morning that we received an e-mail from the family that was travelling with me to China. They were scheduled to meet with me in Chicago and we were to take the ORD-PEK flight together. This provided some comfort for the long flight and some promise of friendship upon arrival at the very large Beijing airport. The e-mail stated that their flight got unexpectedly cancelled in the middle of the night. So they were scrambling to find a new path to China and I was left alone on my path. While this did not threaten to ruin the joyful trip, it created some heartache for the hardest leg. The beginning of the journey is always the most difficult. It is always hardest to leave the comfort of your home; the things you know well, bring you the most comfort and provide safety. There is much resistance to overcome those and begin your journey.
I suppose it is no accident that I began to read
If You Meet the Buddha, a few weeks back. It is a book about the pilgrimage of psychotherapy, written in the 1970s, which focuses heavily on the journey and the difficulty of beginning that journey. Of course, that book referenced Frank Kafka's
The Castle, which I began reading - forsaking the other book as I often do - just before leaving for China.
The Castle, so far, is about a man's journey to the Castle. He is invited for a purpose, but has a great struggle to find his way. I suspect that he ultimately will not find his way to the Castle, in the end, so I pray that my own journey ends better, as I know it will. Plus, my journey has a much better goal at the end. One for which, I will gladly take any path, no matter how charged with punishment the scroll.
I have digressed a bit. Back to this yesterday morning... My trip began by dropping my eldest two sons off at their school and hugging them both good-bye for the last time until my return. Grasping the gravitas of the moment, my middle child gave me a one armed hug and ran off, while my eldest expressed his concern about me not leaving my laptop at home for him to use. My boys love me. My wife gave much more love at the airport, but my youngest was just angry. He made it to the airport and thought he was going to get to go. Darn his fate, he was stuck at home with the rest. He wanted to go get Aislinn with Daddy.
As I walked through the doors to the ticketing counter, I came across a lady friend from Church. I was surprised and glad to see a friendly face at the precipice. She told me that she was meeting her foreign exchange student who was ending her 18 month journey as I was beginning mine. She was returning to China on the same flight as mine. I was truly blessed at how God provides. I did not know her well, but knew of her. She was blessed by the friendship that had been provided her on her trip to America and was eager to provide the same blessing to me. We talked in the airport and watched each other's items for trips for food and shopping. She provided the much needed friendship at the most difficult part of my journey. She was there, not by design, but by providence.
I do go on. There are few other details to this part of my journey. The flight was long and uncomfortable. The airplane was crowded, but the passengers were polite and friendly. I ate good airline food - maybe I was really hungry. I watched bits of movies, listened to music, and read my book. I took a crazy cab ride from the airport to the hotel. But mostly, I romanticized my journey in my head. Figuring on how I would retell this part to my daughter as she grows up. I established that the airplane would become a giant dragon - named UABSI (United Airlines 851) - that I conquered and forced to take me to the Middle Kingdom (Zhongguo - China), where I would usher the Delighted Princess (Kaixin) back to the Beautiful Kingdom (Meiguo - America) to reign as Queen. As a result, the dragon would make the path long and difficult, taking me over the top of the world and forcing me to eat bitter herbs. Of course, my story will have to mention that I did not conquer the dragon alone, but with the help of a friend named Welcome (Yinghuan).
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Linda Weaston
non-member comment
I love your story :)