The holiday season is almost upon us. Millions of Americans will be converging on airports around the country to fly home or to reach some other destination in time for Thanksgiving, Christmas and/or New Years (plus returning to their points of origin in time to resume work or classes the first week of January.) Often, they are in a hurry, either to make a connecting flight or beat the rapidly approaching winter storm before the airport is socked in, or just to be able to collapse at their destination in a festively-decorated living room with a fire and a hearth. And a golden retriever. So many holiday hopes and dreams, but so little time. So little time.
The alternative is to miss your connection, collapse on a hard chair in a dark, chilly corner of the concourse at 3:15 a.m. with no plane in sight, very few people around and a creepy guy staring at you when he thinks you don’t see him.
LINES, LINES AND MORE LINES
But there are some inconvenient hurtles and challenges to face if you fly. C’est la vie! One frustration that can derail or delay your trip is going through airport security. You can locate the regular airport security lines easily. Just look for the long queues as people are forced to undress in various degrees (belts, shoes, coats) and open their carry-on luggage, waiting for a TSA officer to finish with an unruly passenger, or a passenger who has a laundry list of questions to ask. Once you finally get the officer’s undivided attention, he or she is free to rummage through your socks, underwear and other things. Routinely, some passengers are turned back or taken away. Something unauthorized in their baggage perhaps? Are they on the “No fly list?” Who knows?
PRECHECK
So, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has come up with something called PreCheck. PreCheck is an expedited way to ensure in advance that you will arrive at your designation without being derailed by something unexpected along the way. You can locate the PreCheck line only with difficulty, because there are often only a few people at any time being ushered through. You feel like you are a VIP rushing ahead of everyone else while you pretend not to notice all the envious stares from the people in Lines 1 through 8 who are wondering when and if they’ll ever pass through the metal detectors.
Here’s the catch. You can almost certainly qualify for PreCheck, but you must apply for PreCheck in advance of your travel and there is a one-time fee of eighty dollars (or so.) You must bring certain vital documents such as a passport, proof of citizenship or a green card if applicable, photo ID, etc. So, it takes a little advance planning. Deena and I applied for PreCheck last summer and we’re ready to go.
THE INEVITABLE ONE WAY TRIP
Sadly, during the time between Thanksgiving and New Years Day, more than half a million Americans will embark on an unexpected trip, not to an interim holiday destination, but to their Final Destination, from which there is no return. They will likely wish they had made preparations for their trip in advance as well, or their journey’s end may not be what they expected.
Preparing for your Final Destination trip is in some respects infinitely easier than applying for PreCheck. Plus, it’s free. To begin with, you want to touch on the obvious, such as whether you have a will, and whether your loved ones will be taken care of? Advanced directives for health providers are also important. I’ve even gone so far as to type my own obituary.
PSYCHOSOCIAL NEEDS
As far as psycho-social needs are concerned, it is a good idea to make peace or amends with anyone you have hurt or who may have hurt you in this life. Tell your family members that you love them. Admit your faults if that might be helpful. No one is perfect and most people are willing to “forgive and forget.” Do it now, because once your departure is announced, it is too late. Your time is literally up.
NOW FOR THE SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
There are two possible destinations when you leave this life. God knows that there is a point of disembarkation where you’d be welcome, loved and fit in, and there is also a dreadful destination you should avoid at all costs. The two locations are as different from each other as Heaven is to Hell. It is God’s will (II Peter 3:9) that you choose the better of the two. But you have the choice. He’s not going to force you to do anything. All of your life He has been calling to you, trying to get your attention. Perhaps you have not been listening? Perhaps you were distracted? Perhaps there was too much other noise around you for you to hear Him clearly? Perhaps you didn’t realize it was Him? Perhaps He sent others to help you plan your itinerary? It may have been a family member, a neighbor, a pastor or priest. It might have been someone in a dream? Or it may be a post you read online?
God never intended for you to experience agony and isolation when your life is over. So, he has provided a path and a door through which to pass. Like a gate in an airport, it is clearly marked, though the departure time on the monitors probably says TBA, since know one knows when your time comes.
Your spiritual preparation consists of considering and confessing to God what your conscience and what His revealed Word says is wrong in your life. But basically, you already know that. You probably know of the Ten Commandments. Don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t covet what isn’t yours. Jesus speaks of the Golden Rule which is colloquially “Treat others as you would want to be treated.” If you want a better understanding, you might read the first fourteen chapters of the Gospel of Matthew.
Don’t think you can “make up” for what you’ve “fouled up” by doing good works or by comparing yourself to others who you believe are worse people than you. It just doesn’t work that way. Unless you can shed your sinful nature, God cannot approach you even if He wanted to. It’s like trying to join the two identical poles of two magnets in a science experiment. By their nature, they do not attract. They repel each other. That is why we cannot get close to God without a fundamental change in our life.
By repenting of your sins (and if you are like me, you cannot possibly remember every single sin) and confessing your sins to God, you are now ready to ask God for His forgiveness and this is done through Jesus Christ who God sent to redeem us. Jesus died and went to Hell so we would not have to. And a day later God raised Jesus from Hell for our sakes. It is our faith in God our Father and in Jesus, our Redeemer by which we are saved and guaranteed to arrive at Paradise when we land.
If I were just a bit more talented and clever than I am, I suppose I could turn this into a video challenge on Tik Tok. So let me just state it here. If you apply what I’ve written above to your own life, before long, you will more than likely see a striking difference in your life, perhaps in the choices you make, a renewed zest for life, a true feeling of purpose and love. And you’ll have peace as time passes. You will know that you have been booked to arrive at the better of the two destinations.
If you have questions, please contact me. I am available through www.watch-fire.net or @gangof4 on Substack.
