Plane Rides and Presidents

I've been thinking a lot about plane rides these past few weeks.  I've taken friends to the airport, picked up others, joked about the fun new security procedures with others, and seen others take plane rides on television.   It's been plane-tastic.  Except for the part when I get to take a plane ride.

You know what I like about plane rides?  It's forced thinking time.  As a matter of fact, that's how it is whenever I get to be a passenger.  Before Christmas, I had the opportunity to take public transit back up to Santa Rosa to see friends, and I quite enjoyed the experience.  I think the key was the solitude.  I had books, magazines, and my iPhone with me, yet I chose to spend my time staring out the window at the passing hillsides and cloud cover.

I love driving.  I enjoy taking control of the car and guiding it...anywhere.  Any time, any weather, I'm there.  I also have a hard time trusting most people's driving skills, so I'd just as soon do it myself.  While I get great pleasure from driving, I also miss out.  After all, focusing on the road and the surrounding cars means not focusing on the scenery.

So when I had the chance to take in the scenery, I took it.  When I get on the plane, it's the same thing.  Sure, I have my music to listen to, but there's just something to sitting and staring out a window while the miles roll by.

So while my friends have made their sojourns this winter, I have remained at home for the most part.  But my reflection wasn't limited by my lack of travel (bus ride to Santa Rosa notwithstanding).  Indeed, I've seen now more than four seasons of The West Wing in the the past two weeks, and within the episodes I've found stories that resonated in my own life: arguments over what the Bible says on gay people, a strain with a father's Alzheimer's disease, and the President's struggles with Multiple Sclerosis.  And, of course, plane travel.

I'm thinking about the future as I reflect on the episodes I'm watching.  I know I'm onto something, but the idea is still a germ of a kernel in my head, waiting for the right moment to pop.  It'll happen, and I'm sure my classes for the coming intercession and semester will help with that.  I'm sure that I'll find my field placement for next year to expand and solidify, and a job beyond seminary in order to implement.  I can't tell you what any of it is yet, because I don't know.  But it's coming, and I'll be ready for it.

Our popular culture is what we make it to be.  We are it, but more importantly, it is us.  There's something there, and I'm going to find it.