Susan LaffertyNight flight. The hum of jet engines wraps around me. Creating space for solitude. Thought.
All else is silent. Lights out. Passengers sleep. A few watch small flickering screens, earphones in place.
Jetspeed on a clear sky night. Across Central Asia. The map says we’re passing over desert. Mountains. Cities and villages.
I watch out the window.
“Is your arm hurting?” she asks. Yes. The broken bone near my shoulder is healing. Slowly.
It’s 2015 and Manga is prepping me for physical therapy at a hospital in Malaysia. “Be happy!” she says. “Think positive thoughts. Then you will not be hurting.”
I smile. She’s friendly. Gregarious. Her speech and ways and dress make me feel at home.
South Asian home.
“What’s it like entering a new country and culture. How do you prepare?” Her questions take me back to the early days. Of crossing borders and dwelling in the land.
My reading the next day is Joshua 1-4. God’s people are leaving their wilderness wanderings and entering the promised land.
The context and purpose differs, but in the preparation of God’s people, I find strategic practices. For entering the land.
Whether that land is across the river, across the street or across the ocean.