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Flying the Plane - GOD’s Plan Revisited There once was a woman who desperately wanted to win the lottery. Every Saturday when the drawing was made she prayed for Jesus to let her win the lottery. Each time she did not win. One Saturday she heard a booming voice, say “ Hey lady, help me out here, buy a ticket “. There was a small church in a valley. One day the valley flooded, the church was under water except for the steeple. The church’s priest climbed on to the steeple and prayed, "GOD, save me from drowning". Soon a rescue boat came by but the priest refused to get in the boat, saying “It’s OK, GOD will save me.” Another rescue boat came by and the same thing happened. Eventually the water rose and the priest drowned and went to heaven. In heaven, the priest asks GOD, “Why didn't you save me?” GOD said, “I tried, I sent you two rescue boats”. After writing flying the plane, it occurred to me as I was listening to a Bernie Siegel tape to help me enhance my immune system, that in my story Flying the Plane, I had made no provision for me to help Jesus fly the plane. Perhaps I should be the co-pilot and learn from Jesus, eventually to fly the plane on my own with Jesus always there to help when I needed him. If God’s will is always done, then where do we come in with our free will? We must have a way to provide input. Perhaps God’s will is the flight plan, adjustments are shown to us, but we must make the adjustments. God’s plan can be very complex and wonderful. Audrey and I sat in the MRI waiting room, where we talked with a cancer survivor waiting for a checkup. She told us she had cancer all over her body at one time, and had only been given weeks to live several times. However, she was a bad patient, she did not die like the doctors told her to; she lived instead. Finally, the cancer took her kidneys to the point where she needed a kidney transplant. Donor kidneys have to be an exact match. The odds are very high finding a match in the general population. Offspring are often the best source for a match, so the woman’s grown daughter was tested and found to be an exact match. The interesting part is the woman’s daughter was adopted many years ago as a child. God gave her not only a child to love but also a kidney at the same time. Perhaps this lesson can be summed up with the serenity prayer: From my experience, not exclusively from faith, I tell you, once you get your mind around flying the plane and God’s will, this cancer worry thing becomes a lot less of a burden, almost trivial. I had a PET scan today that will tell me if I have a new tumor or just dead tissue in my brain. I have not worried once or speculated about the outcome. What a comfort! I realize that sounds crazy. Who wouldn't I be in a panic to find out the results? Perhaps I am becoming a little more like the monk waiting on the bus? Apparently there is no end to the love and grace I receive from Jesus. HE is my friend and my savior. My disease is HIS teacher for me. I am being taught so much each day. Sure, I want to live and have a full recovery with no paralysis, but given a choice of returning to October 6, 2002, without a brain tumor and without the lessons I have been taught or staying right here, I chose staying right here. |