Airport Adventures and a Letter from Prison

Several years ago, when my family was composed of a few less car seats, my amazing bride and I were preparing to take our then four-year-old son Caden with us on a plane to Indiana for the big family Christmas. The problem? Our flight got cancelled due to the sudden blizzard bearing down on us. Bigger problem? We were stranded an hour from our home, the nearby hotels were sold out, our bags were already checked, and they were even out of “essentials kits.”

We were going to be stuck here for the night.

As nice as the accommodations at Philadelphia International Airport happen to be (ahem), this was clearly not our plan. And yet, as I was dealing with the trauma of slowly coming to terms with a night in Terminal C and the ever delectable dining of Sbarro’s pizza (sarcasm), my wife took a deep breath and turned to my son, and with a big smile said: “Hey buddy, I’ve got great news! We are going to camp out at the airport tonight!”

Manipulative? Maybe a little. Effective? Very much so. My brilliant bride turned the terror of Terminal C into an airport adventure that had my child literally jumping with joy…which, in turn, made both of his parents smile in response.

For the last few months, I have been studying an absolutely fascinating letter that is recorded in the Bible. This particular letter was written by a guy named Paul to a group of his friends in a city called Philippi, and it is BEAUTIFUL. In the letter, Paul writes about how we are all in this together and continuously talks about joy and rejoicing and generosity and gratitude…the kind of words that you and I would associate with Christmas.

Here’s the kicker: Paul is writing it from prison.

The chains are literally rattling as he is writing about joy. The context for his near Christmas-like contentment and celebratory correspondence was far worse than the fragrant and unforgiving floors of Terminal C that I would be sleeping on. He is honest about his current condition, yet refuses to let his current situation rob him of his joy.

At the culmination of the letter, Paul offers the following advice: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Paul seems to think that we have a choice on how we look at things and where we focus our attention. And he’s right.

This time of year may be tough for you. In fact, tough may be an insulting understatement to describe the challenge of facing the holidays with the overwhelming feelings of loss that can come with grieving those that have passed on, or loved ones now estranged. Even the literal lack of sunlight can seem an appropriate metaphor for our dark, emotional prison. There are plenty of reasons to feel down. But can I encourage you? You CAN see things differently.

A few years later I was snuggling up next to my son before bed, and I asked him about some of his favorite memories. Mind you, at this point we had enjoyed tons of vacations and games and play places and theme parks and water slides and beach trips. But would you believe it? He said his favorite was that amazing night in Terminal C feasting on Auntie Anne’s and Sbarro’s pizza.

At least, that’s how he saw it.

Jeremy Bell is pastor of Grace City Church in Sorrento, Florida. Website: WeAreGrace.City