ARE WE THERE YET??

Some years ago on my return trip from Europe on Swiss Air flight #128, I experienced for the first time the unique personal video display screens mounted on the back of the passenger seat in front of me.  

The screen displayed a full color panorama of the land and ocean over which our plane was flying. It was continually changing. I could follow the small icon of our plane as it made its way from Zurich, our point of departure, to our destination. 

The screen informed me of changes in altitude, temperature, distance already covered, distance remaining until landing, the plane’s speed, the actual hours in flight, present location, and the projected time from point to point. Intermittently the view flipped and expanded to include the entire scope of the earth and our little plane icon proportionately displayed as a moving dot. I could see the seascape, the landscape, the atmospheric conditions above the earth, and the updated ETA. 

As the hours passed, I could follow our gradual descent in altitude, and when we landed at Dulles International Airport in Virginia after nine hours in flight, the monitor informed me how many miles I had traveled while seated comfortably above the clouds.

We experienced times of “fasten your seat belt” turbulence and some stormy weather, but as passengers we always knew exactly how far we were from our destination. Unless some catastrophe occurred to abort our flight and we crashed into the sea, I could count on the precise time of arrival.

That is not the case with our earthly lives. Most of us know the actual time of our birth because it was recorded, but the time of our soul's departure from Planet Earth is veiled from us by God. I can ask in vain, “Are we there yet?” as our impatient children so often whined on a road trip. Some people would like the luxury of viewing their lives on a display screen as a little icon moving along so they could plan their lives accordingly. Then they could speed up what they still wanted to accomplish or experience if they knew their time was short, or relax a little if they knew that generous time to live still lay ahead. Perhaps I would not like to know so precisely.

When I do reach an advanced age, I can speculate more accurately that the arrival at my destination can’t be too far in the future. One hundred percent of humanity dies; it is absolutely certain that each generation will pass off the earthly scene.

Like the ten wise virgins in Matthew 25, I should always be ready for the coming of the Bridegroom because I don’t know the ETA of His arrival. In the case of our earthly lives, whether we are young or old, the sight of our Bridegroom may be heralded either (1) when we draw our last mortal breath here or (2) when Jesus Christ returns to earth at His promised glorious Second Coming. 

In either case, my lamp should be full of oil, symbolizing the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and my wick trimmed to burn brightly, trimmed from the attachments of this world. Like the oil lamps in the tent of meeting in Exodus 27, burning from evening to morning, the lamps required clear, pure oil from beaten olives to enable them to burn continuously. My oil is to be combined with spices and fragrant incense (of prayer and praise and worship) as I wait for my Bridegroom. Daily, continually, I should seek to be anointed with fresh oil (Psalm 92:10) so that my cup is perpetually running over (Psalm 23:5).

If I live continually in that state of grace, then my question, “Are we there yet?” will be answered by the Heavenly Father one day in His perfect timing, “Enter into the joy of your Lord!”

(Exerpt from the last chapter, "Launching At Last" from Leona's forthcoming book.)