I did some traveling lately to a magical land called Malibu. Now to get to Malibu from Arkansas, I took an airplane, which is a big deal for someone afraid of heights and closed in places. For my first flying experiences, I think I did great. IF you don’t count me grabbing my friend and yelling “WHAT THE FLIP WAS THAT!” when the landing gear came down, I did well. Or you gloss over the fact I was compelled to cover my whole head with a jacket and slowly rock back and forth while clutching the seat in front of me as we touched down, every time. So basically, ignoring those minor events… one could argue I really did okay.

But this post is not about  me, it’s about the people on the planes…

As I flew over five thousand miles with hundreds of stangers, I was repeatedly hit by one thought: People are pretty good. I know that sounds simplistic and maybe naive, but let me tell you why I believe that is actually a statement of hope and recognition of reality.

I tend to feel down if I watch too much news coverage. It’s easy to think the world (and it’s people) stink after an hour of network news. There is so much pain, injustice, and negativity that I feel my heart will break from the sadness. The brutality and unloving acts of other humans played out in a 24 hours news cycle is too much to bear.  Cynicism is the natural consequence of ingesting such toxicity day in and day out.  Thus, I limit my exposure to the negativity while still finding a way to stay informed.

But cynicsim still seeps into my life…despite my vigiliance. It creeps in when I see the mom at the ball park yell at her six year old for striking out. It rushes in when I see people I love taken advantage of and it pours in when I see myself resorting to “old sins” I thought I left behind long ago. Like a drumbeat, these thoughts come into my head, my heart: “People are mean. The world is a scary, cruel place. Things will only get worse. Where is God?” 

And then…then I sit in a plane full of strangers, flying high over the clouds, three thousand feet in the air and I see God, in all of them. The elderly couple who gives up their seats so a toddler can have more room to romp on the plane, the young men who hoist the ridiculously heavy bags into the overhead for people they have never met before, then pull them gently back down again- that is God’s loving nature displayed in humans. Strangers who sit down together and share their lives, strangers who sit down together, rest beside each other in amicable silence, share snacks, overlook offenses…those are examples of the goodness of  God and the people he has created. 

These acts are reality too! Though they will not be reported or repeated on news casts or anywhere else for that matter. I submit that there is much more loving kindness being perpetrated in this world than not. I do not intend to give the impression it’s all sunshine and roses out here. I see injustice. I see greed, arrogance and evil…but I see good too. I see God and THAT is worth writing about.