All Roads Lead to Rome

"Dad," my son, Vince said to me.  "Sometimes people say things that aren't true."

"I suppose that you are right," I said.  "What were you thinking of?"

"People say 'All Roads Lead to Rome,'" Vince answered me seriously.  "But the only way to get to Rome from here is by boat or airplane.  So, I don't think any of our roads lead to Rome."

"Maybe they are just saying that if you drive far enough in any direction your cell phone will go to 'Roam' mode," I suggested.

"You're just joking," Vince said and moved off to think about something else (probably what the saying 'There's more than one way to skin a cat," actually means).

Of course, the saying references the glory days of the Roman Empire.  In that era, distant lands were linked by Roman roads that ran straight through swamps and high mountains, taking the trade and armies to the furthest reaches of the empire.  But if you went far enough along any of them, they would eventually lead you to the center of the empire, Rome.

People who use this saying are really saying that there are many different paths that end up at the same place.

This simply isn't true.

There certainly are a lot of paths that end in the Mountains of Disaster and only one that leads to the Vale of Victory and the heavenly city that lies beyond.

I have heard it said that it is far better to choose your destination first and then pick your road than to pick your road and hope it ends someplace worth visiting.  All too often, people would rather choose a road where the entrance ramp looks nice and their friends are all going on it.  This is really dangerous.

Not all roads do lead to Rome.

Just ask Vince.

An App for Airline Anxiety

As we boarded the plan on an eight hour flight to Europe, I looked at the other people who were settling into their (almost) comfortable seats.  They were breaking out travel pillows and nonchalantly putting noise cancelling head phones on.  Few seemed to be dealing with much anxiety, although truth to tell, humans are pretty good at hiding these sorts of nervous feelings from those around them.

Elaine had downloaded an app before we left called "Am I Going Down?"  It purported to tell you the chance that your plane would crash on the way to its destination.  Taking a Boeing 767 from Dulles to Vienna gave a chance of 1 in 3,912,617 of crashing, as per this amazing app.  In other words, you could take that flight every days for 10,719 years without going down.

I suppose that this sort of an app is supposed to reassure the folks using it, although I wonder if anyone who is truly afraid of flying would actually be calmed by this odd, little program.  For anyone like me, flying still seems a pretty unnatural activity, regardless of what a computer program might say.

Sometimes when something always happens according to plan it becomes routine and we cease to appreciate the amazing nature of it.  At the same time, people of a hundred years ago could scarcely have imagined an eight hour trip between Austria and Washington D. C.,  much less have imagined that such a journey would become routine.

We need to have our eyes opened -- not to see unseen angels, but to recognize seen miracles.  I pray that we might see not just the miracles of modern technology, but also to see the wonders that the Almighty placed in nature that happen just the way that they are supposed to every time.

They don't happen that way because they have to, they happen because God is just that great.

Letting People Know

It was four hours into our ten hour flight from Vienna to Washington D. C.  Vince was looking at a book about butterflies.  I was watching Elliot squirming and thinking that it was about time to walk him down the aisle to give him (another) bathroom break when I saw the flight attendants coming down the aisle to pick up food trays.

Anna was sitting across the aisle from the boys and me.  When the flight attendant came to her, Anna handed her tray to the lady and then handed her a piece of paper.  The woman unfolded it and then gave Anna a beaming smile.

I knew without seeing it what that paper was. 

Anna has taken to writing little notes to cleaning staff at hotels, waitresses, and other sundry folk telling them that they are doing a good job and thanking them for it.  It clearly makes a difference.  People seem to light up more than they would from a twenty-five dollar tip.

I suppose it is something that I think about a lot.  It is a blessing to find someone who says thank you.  It is a joy to see a child who sees a thankless job that is overlooked and is grateful for it -- and then proceeds to let others know.

I know that over the past several months, my family and I have been abundantly blessed.  People have given to us until our cup has run over.  They have helped in so many ways that I cannot begin to share them all.

I may not be able to draw a picture of you (that is recognizable as a human) or do anything else in recognition, but I am still grateful.  God has blessed me in so many ways through others, there is just one thing I can say as I think about it.

Thank you!