Seven Miles

Another flight. Another push back from the gate. Another routine safety speech. We rolled unceremoniously to the end of the runway and as the 737 engines began to roar, a young child’s voice from several rows behind me pierced the moment…

“Are we going into the sky?”

Light laughter from those who could hear followed the question, like a polite golf clap.

But like a lure hanging in front of a hungry rainbow trout, my soul latched onto the innocent and winsome question.

My boarding pass showed Southwest Flight #4674 from Seattle to Denver. That settled it. Denver was where we were going. Our destination was planned and predicable.

But in that moment, against the backdrop of the meticulously routed flight path to Denver International, a light came on. It illuminated the story told in Luke 24 of a trip from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Two travelers on a seven mile walk after the crucifixion of Jesus. Cleopas is named, his companion is not. Their boarding pass said it plainly.. Emmaus.

But, Emmaus wasn’t the real destination… transformation was. Yes, Jesus showed up, and it was on the road.

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:27, ESV)

And what happened on the road? …their hearts burned within them…

They only thought they had their final destination charted. Instead Jesus used the questions and grief in their souls as kindling to set their heart’s ablaze.

And on flight #4674, the Holy Spirit used the vocal cords of a small child to whisper words of truth into my mind, heart and soul. My heart burned within me… for recalibration.

How often I check my boarding pass to discover where I’m going… when it’s really the sky that beckons.

On a tightly scripted schedule, the sky is a means to an end… but for a child, it was the end. And it brought joy and delight. It ignited a heart of wonder.

Seven miles to Emmaus. The road.