Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: TRAIL (05/13/21)
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TITLE: Wherever I Go | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marilyn Borga
05/20/21 -
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We ran down to the tiny stream that flowed under our long gravel driveway. We tried catching minnows in an old tin can, but they skittered away as soon as we stuck our bare toes in the shallow water. So we splashed each other until we were soaked through and through, then we scrambled up the bank to dry off on the wood plank bridge. Our clothes practically steamed dry as the sun beat down on us.
Billy pulled a couple of long blades of grass from beside the lane, held them just so between his thumbs, then blew on them to make a raucous whistling noise. Since I hadn’t yet mastered this skill, I pretended I hadn’t noticed. Instead, I scanned the sky. Imagining shapes in the clouds was something my brother and I did equally well. To my disappointment, the sky was clear.
Suddenly, as I watched, a long, narrow streak of white appeared in the deep blue.
“Look, Billy, it’s the skinniest cloud ever!”
“You goof,” he said with disdain. “That’s not a cloud at all. It’s a jet trail.”
I listened quietly as he expounded his six-year-olds’ version of the phenomenon. Our Dad had once taken us to the small airport outside of town, where we watched two and six-seater planes take off and fly. But I’d never seen the high-flying jet planes Billy told me about. He explained that the silver dot at the front end of the growing white trail was the airplane.
Once I spotted the jet, I began to jump wildly and I yelled at the streak of white. I wanted the pilot to blow a horn or signal me like the semi-drivers sometimes did when I waved to them.
“He can’t see you,” Billy informed me. “That pilot can see the whole wide world from up there. You’re so little, it’s like you’re nothing to him.”
I turned my face so Billy wouldn’t see the tears that sprung into my eyes. I didn’t want him calling me a baby. At five years old I couldn’t yet articulate my feelings, but my brother’s words had triggered a longing inside me, a hunger to be known. Even then, I sensed that it was much deeper than the disappointment of not being seen by a pilot up in the sky. I didn’t want to be a nothing. I wanted to matter. The emptiness I felt frightened me. I wanted to fill the void but I didn’t know how. It was my first awareness of what some call the God-shaped vacuum that resides in our souls.
At the invitation from our neighbors, our family started to go to church that summer. My Sunday school teacher taught me about the creator of the universe, the God who loves his whole creation. He loves even me. She introduced me to Jesus, who died to wash away my sins. I learned about the Spirit who teaches me how I should live.
Even decades later, I still enjoy finding shapes in the clouds when I look at the sky. Sometimes I’ll notice the crisscrossing white streaks of jet trails. I’ll try to determine where the planes came from and where they’re headed. Coming from Chicago and destined for Atlanta? New York to Dallas? It doesn’t bother me that I’m unknown and unseen by the pilot.
The Bible, God’s word, assures me that God knows and sees me. I’ll never go unnoticed again. More importantly, he loves me and wants me to be with him always. He promises to be with me wherever I go. That’s enough for me.
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“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 (NKJV)
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And that verse at the end from Deuteronomy, is one of my favs!
Blessings~