First Sunday of Lent, February 22, 2026
(Part 1 of …)
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
AA1107
The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground
and blew into his nostrils the breath of life,
and so man became a living being.
In order to get from Austin to Wilmington, North Carolina for my Uncle Merlie’s 100th birthday party, many of the 80 relatives and friends flew on fire-breathing monsters, the jets that fly at 35,000 feet, look quiet and tiny from the ground and are one of the favorite “quiet sounds” for many as we fall asleep. Onboard Margaret has met many fascinating seatmates, because she flies back and forth from Austin to Champaign, Illinois. Maybe I’ll meet some folks too and have some stories for her.
Riding in Martell’s Lyft SUV at 6:30 am, slipping through TSA without incident or lines, offering up my carry-on luggage to be put away till we get to Wilmington, and waiting for Group 5 to be called to the back of an American Airlines 737, and saying hello. A woman my age going to Cozumel, a resort near Cancun, 1978 miles. Driving 37 hours. Flying 200 minutes. She flew, and she wondering aloud how scuba diving would be for her at age 71.
Between us, woman with a mask, on a recurring two-stop flight from Austin to Knoxville. When her 93 year old mother has a doctor’s appointment, she gets on the plane and goes, to accompany her.
She was quiet but happy to share when I asked. She listened more than she talked. I appreciated sitting beside her. Across the aisle another woman with a mask was highlighting a book in yellow and blue. ‘Acts of God” on top, with a subtitle I thought read “Why read Dostoevsky?” Which caught my attention.
I thought of several reasons to read Dostoevsky’s profoundly spiritual-religious-Russian novels, learning more than one way through the maze of shame, pride and salvation walking beside Raskolnikov or Prince Myshkin. When we were about to land she asked, she took off her mask.
I asked about her book. “Why read Dostoevsky?” She looked at me and frowned.
I looked more closely at the title. Oh! “Acts of God … Coming World Disasters.” A little double vision can get in the way of conversation, but it can also stimulate it. “What’s the next coming world disaster?” I asked her, laughing at myself.
She didn’t have to think about it. “It’s already here. MEGACHURCHES!” I thought her eyes hardened a little. She looked angry, and righteous, and ready to preach. And I remembered my seatmate’s purpose for flying to care for her mom. I thought how James in the Bible wrote about single-minded generosity on the one hand, and talking too quickly without listening on the other. Off the plane at 10:30 a.m., we each are alone again.
My cousin Mike, flying from Philadelphia and sharing my room, would get there earlier than me. I called Karen at the front desk. “Oh, he’s already here and in your room.” Perfect. I called Mike to talk a bit, watching the gates change for my next flight around 1 pm, then watching the departure time push further and further into the afternoon, then suddenly seeing the word DELAYED change to CANCELLED.
I never read the frequent stories on The Points Guy about what to do now. I imagine I’m supposed to take a deep breath or two when I see the C word, so I do. Mike has traveled a lot, and the disappointment in his voice was unmistakable. He began to suggest that I find someone and … but then the screen changed again. We have REBOOKED you on the next flight to Wilmington, which leaves at 7:01 pm. American Airlines flight 1107.
Mike said, “I think I’ll take a nap.” My wait in Dallas just changed from 2 to 9 hours, and I wondered where I too could fall asleep.
To Be Continued … (probably for several more days, because I’d like to tell the stories of my trip. I’ll do my best to make them interesting, and even reflect the lectionary passages of the day now and then.)
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, “”All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”
Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.
(Genesis 2, Psalm 51, Romans 5, Matthew 4)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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