Airplane Conversations

Flying in an airplane means being packed into a pressurized metal tube while in transit to your destination. Sitting so close to so many people, you invariably overhear other peoples’ conversations. Some are mundane, some are interesting, and some you wish you could not hear. A year or so ago I remember being on flight to somewhere and overhearing a conversation that’s stuck with me since then. Two guys in the row in front of me were talking about their families, and at one point the conversation turned to how one of the guy’s children were doing spiritually. The guy clearly held to some version of Christianity, however he had not given his children much instruction in it and had let them go off on their own to come to their own conclusions. I know it’s impolite to butt in on what other people are saying, but when I heard this I wanted to scream because of the sheer level of insanity that had just flown out of that guy’s mouth. What he had said was madness. Absolute madness. If you really think that your belief system is true, especially one with such stark truth claims and massive consequences as Christianity, then why on earth would you not do everything in your power to convince your children of it as well? According to his own beliefs, his children’s’ spiritual condition is not some trivial thing like what kind of car they drive or which restaurant they choose to go to, but rather a matter of infinite importance and eternal consequence. There is nothing loving about what he had done, if what he believes is true. His actions sound real nice in our western, individualistic, libertarian-inclined society, but if heaven and hell are really on the line, then he has done them an incredible disservice, by failing to give them the one thing they need more than anything else.