One of the pitfalls of being a new First Officer with Atlantic Southeast Airlines is I get to work when those more senior to me don’t want to: weekends. As a result I rarely get the chance to attend church on Sunday. This is one of the choices I had to make when deciding to become an airline pilot, and I am confident it is the right decision. Fortunately sometimes you can make lemonade out of a lemon.
My job takes me to communities all over the eastern United States and occasionally my schedule allows me to attend church wherever I happen to be. In February I attended a ward (congregation) in Killeen, Texas, where Fort Hood is located. In March I was able to attend in Albany, Georgia, and today I attended in Flint, Michigan.
Getting to church takes some effort. I tried walking to the church in Killeen, but fortunately was offered a ride halfway, 40 minutes after I started. Funny, it didn’t look that far on the map. In Albany I got a ride from the hotel’s shuttle since it was just down the road, and today I took a cab. But I always get a ride back to the hotel from a local member. I meet people during the meetings, and invariably someone offers to give me a ride. This is good, since the cab ride set me back $18 today. I’m not sure there is a price that can be put on attending church, but cab fare does make me think twice. I really enjoy getting to know these people and am very grateful for their generosity.
Even though each ward has its own unique identity, they all hold the same meetings and teach the same doctrine. The faith and commitment are the same, although the backgrounds differ. In Killeen most members were military families. Albany had a small ward, but since I was there the day after Daylight Savings Time began, I was told about half the congregation was missing. And the Flint Ward (actually Burton) was skewed older, but had several medical students with their young families. There were no Aaronic priesthood youth to administer the sacrament, though, so Elders and High Priests took the lead.
My job takes me to communities all over the eastern United States and occasionally my schedule allows me to attend church wherever I happen to be. In February I attended a ward (congregation) in Killeen, Texas, where Fort Hood is located. In March I was able to attend in Albany, Georgia, and today I attended in Flint, Michigan.
Getting to church takes some effort. I tried walking to the church in Killeen, but fortunately was offered a ride halfway, 40 minutes after I started. Funny, it didn’t look that far on the map. In Albany I got a ride from the hotel’s shuttle since it was just down the road, and today I took a cab. But I always get a ride back to the hotel from a local member. I meet people during the meetings, and invariably someone offers to give me a ride. This is good, since the cab ride set me back $18 today. I’m not sure there is a price that can be put on attending church, but cab fare does make me think twice. I really enjoy getting to know these people and am very grateful for their generosity.
Even though each ward has its own unique identity, they all hold the same meetings and teach the same doctrine. The faith and commitment are the same, although the backgrounds differ. In Killeen most members were military families. Albany had a small ward, but since I was there the day after Daylight Savings Time began, I was told about half the congregation was missing. And the Flint Ward (actually Burton) was skewed older, but had several medical students with their young families. There were no Aaronic priesthood youth to administer the sacrament, though, so Elders and High Priests took the lead.
Attending church in these far-flung communities gives me the opportunity to meet people and make acquaintances wherever I go. Killeen, Albany and Flint are more memorable to me than most of the places I have flown to simply because I now know someone in these cities, people I have a lot in common with. I look forward to making more friends in the months and years to come.
1 comment:
So true! (pun intended)
Just wait until you are flying internationally- yeah!
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