When Strangers Talk to You in the Airport
Did they mean to share the billion dollar secret? Well they did.
“If you could bottle it up, you’d be a billionaire.”
His voice deep and kind, his salt-and-pepper beard long and proud, and his hunched over, seated posture communicating an honest tiredness. And how could it be helped?
Dozens of us were gathered around the baggage carousel in the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport hoping our bags would finally descend from on high and free us to begin a late-evening drive home.
Among the weary mass of travelers were our two boys, six and two, running in endless circles.
(two-year-old on the move - with six-year-old further ahead)
And not just running. Their laughter was infectiously full and delightful. Each person they raced past would suddenly find their mouth bending upward and their eyes softening. It was not unruly running - more like an unexpected, light breeze awakening each person they passed.
The billionaire comment arrived as both kindness and lament: Those kids have a great energy! And all of us long to access that again…
Don’t we ever?
The more the years pass, the more baggage accumulates. Some of it we really wanted!
A car (or two or more).
A job (plus a couple boards on which we serve).
A house (or two).
The latest gadget, accessory, kitchen item, furniture, toy.
Almost without trying, whole basements and attics and closets and calendars pile with stuff we wanted. Then, of course, there is all the other stuff we see and use everyday that requires maintenance, upkeep, and attention.
It’s all good stuff. But funny thing, it adds weight to life.
Same, the years go by and the body adds weight. The mind adds the weight of the anxiety and stress that come with more responsibility, more awareness.
I used to power through pull an all-nighter if I needed to finish the project…
I used to run/bike/swim/play such-and-such sport without a thought to stretching or aches arriving the next day…
I used to worry only about my life…
These phrases and more make clear the ways we slow and tire and sometimes long for a bottle six and two-year-old Vitality.
5-Hour energy drinks, coffee shops on every corner, and the dozens of ways that companies market electrolytes make it clear that many do, in fact, bottle energy for us. Annual alcohol sales make clear that many prefer not more energy but a way to somehow feel lighter amid all the heaviness.1
But what if there was another way?
What if we didn’t need a bottle of liquid energy/courage/escape?
What if we don’t need someone to figure out the magic potion that returns child-like energy to our tired bones?
Because… What if the potion is already within?
“It goes by fast.”
A man in his 60s gave a knowing grin with his short comment as he looked at my six and two-year-old wrestling on top of their carry-on luggage. Honestly, it was stressful to watch.
Please don’t let your legs hit the nice passengers in line.
Please don’t crush the suitcase we bought you.
Please remember your brother is smaller than you.
Please please please… Sometimes with and sometimes without the please.
(A momentary lull amid the running-and-wrestling)
What the man was communicating, however, is that these are the moments you miss dearly when the children are grown and gone.
The craziness.
The laughter.
The unpredictability.
The gift of children being children.
It was as if his four words were really saying just two: Slow Down.
(and also) Let yourself receive this moment in all of its fullness. Let your soul linger before the beautiful mess of it all. Let time slow and expand as you take in the wonder and crazy and love of all that is before you.
Maybe his four words were also saying another two words: Pay Attention.
Because here’s the thing:
When we do finally allow ourselves the space to slow before the gift of a friend or a child or a sunset or the fall leaves reaching for us during an evening walk…
When we do shut off the apps and notifications and background television and allow ourselves to dive into the…
painting
writing
sewing
reading
praying
woodworking
building
listening
meditating
playing
exercising
crafting
…there is a fresh vitality.
This kind of slowing-and-noticing arrives like an unexpected, light breeze awakening the soul to come forth.
Again. Finally.
And the soul, I am convinced, is quite child-like at heart.2
Which means, to live from the place of soul is to live from that expansive, child-like energy that is already within.
In a world where most folks think they can’t move well through life without a few more bags or a few more bottles…
…soul-driven people carry so little, but seem to have so much.
It makes no sense. It’s a beautiful, strange miracle.
You might next catch a glimpse of it if you take some time to notice the children around you. You might next be the miracle yourself the more frequently you slow and attend.
Because the truth is this: the billion dollar gift is already bottled within all of us.
And what a thing if we were remembered as the ones who spent our days making mouths turn upward with a sense that maybe they, too, could drop the bags and the bottles and run free.
Of course, the painful irony is that this particular liquid only adds to the weight.
It’s why Jesus kept talking about becoming a child in order to know what his way and his world are all about.
This story really hit me hard! We just got back from a 21/2 week trip to LA, including a 2 week cruise.
We are now in our late 80's,and I didn't realize how much harder it is to travel at that age. Starting off,
INOK had a serious fall in the Austin Airport, and We almost didn't make our plane. We were quickly saved by several wonderful employees Who got her up and called Paramedics. She was finally cleared to fly and put in a wheelchair to go to the plane. If it wasn't for a couple of SUPER WONDERFUL young lady employees, We would have missed our flight, and maybe our our cruise.
Hey Pastor Bobby,
Thanks for sharing stories of your boys. Looks like they have a great time wherever they go. 😇😇