13 November | Youth
«Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.» Philippians 2:3
During the time I spent in the King’s Heralds quartet, traveling by plane became an almost weekly routine. The process was the same: pack my suitcase, wake up at dawn, load the sound equipment in the van, travel sixty kilometers to the airport, check in, wait to board and, finally, get on the plane. Phew! After several hours, we finally felt at ease, comfortable inside the aircraft.
Calm? Not always. On some trips, I was stuck with the middle seat. Have you ever traveled on one of these? Excuse me for being frank, but this is the seat of the unlucky! In addition to the cramped seat, there is unfair competition for the armrest, on both sides. It is a real battle of elbows, fierce competition, always won by the quickest arms!
I confess that I traveled many times with cramps, not to mention stiff neck! The solution was to cross my arms. There was also the inconvenience of having to ask the passenger next to me to get up if I wanted to go to the bathroom or get something from the overhead compartment.
My life changed when the airline we were used to traveling with created an application that made it possible to do the check-in process before and even choose seats. I was probably always the first to access the system and choose the seat number! From then on, trips became more relaxed and comfortable.
However, then came a dilemma. As I traveled in my splendid seat, I had to decide whether to use both armrests, or leave one for my neighbor. At that moment, today's biblical text came to my mind: “Esteem others better than yourselves.” The apostle Paul did not know that, around 2,000 years later, at a height of 11,000 meters, his words would echo loudly in the mind of someone inside an airplane. I immediately lowered my arm and allowed the person to be at ease.
You will probably find someone today in a similar situation to the passenger in the middle seat. Do not be selfish. Always practice humility and altruism. Tomorrow that seat could be yours.