We walked past seat after seat, looking for two together. Finally, we saw two seats in the very last row. A rail-thin teenager had the window seat. I could not see much of him as he huddled in his back corner of the plane, his hoodie pulled up, hiding his face. I noticed his tattooed ankle as I stowed my carry-on and tried to get comfortable.
“Do you have enough room?” he asked.
“Thank you,” I replied as I looked up into his face, hidden behind a curtain of hair. I learned his name was Matt and we settled in for take-off.
That might have been the end of our conversation, except that I knew I would want to try to bridge the chasm between me and this young man, as we shared some cramped space for the next hour. Although inches apart, we were separated by several decades, by lifestyle, and possibly by spiritual condition.
He opened his book and I opened mine. I wondered if he noticed the big, bold letters on my book’s cover: God is the Issue by Brad Bright. I was really enjoying Brad’s book and wishing I was a little further along so I would be better equipped to speak with Matt. I opened to the Chapter, Communicating God’s Heart, and read:
“. . . our hearts often do not truly reflect God’s heart. We focus on symptoms, but God focuses on the cause. We tend to judge others based on their outward appearance. God always judges based on the heart.”
Well, I knew right then the book could wait and my conversation with Matt could not.
Mike and Sus Schmitt 