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Great more traveling and through other time zones. You see, last week my friend and I decided to take a little trip out west. We began our trek early Monday morning from the Atlanta airport. And I mean early... I saw 5a.m. on my alarm clock. (which is not normal... 9a.m. maybe, but nothing before... I am not a morning person!) So yeah, 5 a.m. we begin our NRSA journey. For those of you not in the airline business... NRSA means non-revenue space available. Non-rev for short or stand by. Which really means you did not pay for your ticket, you did not purchase a seat on this airplane, if there is a seat left after every paying passenger has boarded, and even some from another flight, we might find you a seat somewhere... probably not an aisle....or window... definitely not the exit row....good chance it will be a middle seat...or by the lavatory...or better yet one of those seats near the exit row or bulkhead that are forbidden to recline.
Non-revs are placed in order of their seniority. The longer you have been slaving away for the company, the better chance you have to receive a seat. On our fateful day, we were ranked numbers 24 and 25 out 35 on the list with flight bookings already oversold for paying passengers the entire day. (not sure why we traveled that day?) We began the morning on A concourse... Through the boarding process we non-revs wait patiently watching the screen for our names to appear with a seat number beside them. Okay, everyone on? Maybe, nope here come a few stragglers. We await news of open seats....then the agents call the stand-by revenue (those who have paid tickets, just not this flight) passengers.... then we non-revs. One can spot a non-rev easily... you see, we tend to watch the overhead monitors or screen a lot. We sit off by ourselves. We watch from afar in hopes of receiving a boarding pass. We hover around the gate area, but crowd closer and closer towards the end of boarding. We want to remind the gate agent we are still here and awaiting a seat. By the end of boarding we are practically sitting in the gate agents lap, as if that will help us get a seat?
First flight results: no seats for non-revs! So off to the next flight.... D concourse.....same sequence of events....same outcome. Next flight... T-gates... same dog and pony show except the non-revs are no longer awaiting as patiently. 4 non-revs make the flight, but at the last minute the paying passengers walk up and the agent escorts the non-revs back off the plane. Moving right along, this time concourse B. We non-revs start off as seniority competing enemies, but by 3 or 4 flights we are all inconvenienced pals. Concourse B proved to no avail. The gate agents just love to see us coming. We were like a herd of non-revs, 30+ folks tiredly dragging bags though the airport. Back to T-gates....that is when it hit me. We non-revs ... it's like we are lepers. No one really wants to help you. The agents want you as far as possible from them. When you ask questions at the gate they shoo you away and tell you to watch the screen. Need help? .... wait until I have helped everyone else first...then if I have time I will help you or send you back to the overhead monitors. You feel like you have offended them by just being there. You feel not worthy. I know it sounds trivial, but after an entire day at the airport as a non-rev, the circumstances reminded me of the leper story in Mark.
A man with leprosy came to Him and begged Him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man."I am willing." he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
Mark 1:40-42 (NIV)
Many times in my life I have felt unworthy of God's help. Unworthy of His compassion, His kindness, or His love. How could He love me after all I have done? Why would He want to? At times, I have felt and continue to feel unclean and stained from my sins. Separated from Him with my continuous short comings. There are times when my guilt has kept me from seeking the Comforter. When I seek Him why should He help me? What have I done to deserve His love? What do I have to offer Him in return, but brokenness? Compared to others in the line up of God's grace my "seniority" falls way short. Grace should go to someone more deserving than me. Someone cleaner, less stained and tarnished. Like the non-rev, I go from gate to gate yearning to be accepted... loved.. found worthy. Then once given the chance... settling into a seat that suits me. Trying to find a way to live with the fact that He loves me in spite of my shortcomings. That He will make a space available for me.
The leper account is an amazing story of hope and encouragement for someone who feels unworthy. Leprosy was a terrible disease with open wounds and sores. The physical appearance of lepers repulsed others. Someone with leprosy was considered unclean. Being unclean meant being an outcast in society. Lepers were banned from the Temple.
Here is a man with leprosy on his knees begging to be made clean. He sought after Jesus. He longed for the Master. He did not ask Jesus to heal him, but make him clean. Mark says, Jesus was filled with compassion. Jesus cared for this man. Then He reached out and touched the leper. He actually touched a man considered by everyone as unclean. Jesus could have healed him without ever laying a finger on the man, but he didn't. He literally reached His hand out and touched him. Jesus, the very definition of clean and perfect, touched an unworthy outcast.
Last summer Harry and I, along with our amazing God loving friends (Jerry and Trish, you are a breath of fresh air...we would travel the world with you) were able to visit Israel. One of my favorite places we visited was not something one would find on a tourist map or in any book. It was a place in Jerusalem just outside the old city. Jerusalem being the large city it is with houses, businesses, some kind of building or structure everywhere you look. Everywhere except for one place... the lepers caves. Just outside the gates are caves in which the unclean stayed. Today, in Israel where land is sparse, remains an open area. An area where no one would dare to go for fear of contamination. No one but Jesus. Even today, there are no houses, businesses, or any buildings built in this region. It looks so barren and untouched. Yet, it has a purity and serenity about it. It looks as it did when Jesus walked about Israel, and to me... that is special.
Jesus will go there for you. He will touch the unclean and make them clean again. Just a touch from the Saviour and your entire world can change.
The caves are in the undeveloped section
Old city wall on left, caves on right
Various caves
Caves up close
O God, you are my God;
early will I seek you!
My soul thirsts for you;
my flesh longs for you...
Psalms 63:1 (KJV)
O God, you are my God; early will I seek you. Not because I am worthy, but because you love me anyway! You love me regardless. You can make the unclean clean! My soul desires for you. My flesh longs to be like you... clean and Holy.
In Norway, 1873, a man named G.H. Hansen identified the first bacteria that causes the leprosy disease. And today leprosy is referred to as Hansen's disease. At times, I feel it is my disease. When I wear my failures, hurts, and inadequacies not on the inside, but the outside. Like the open sores and wounds, so are my sins. All that is wrong with me shines brightly for all to see. Lord, I am so flawed. I have many faults, surely visible for all to witness. How can You see them and still love me? I am beyond reproach. I do not deserve to be near you. Why would you continue to reach out and touch me? Time and time again? But He does and will. Like the leper I want to crawl begging to be made clean. And time and time again, He has compassion, reaches out, and takes us by the hand. Divinity will touch and cleanse the most stained and unclean sinner. He loves us that much. It is beyond my comprehension, how he continues to love me after all that I am and have done. Thank you for your ceaseless touches. Your never-ending compassion. Early will I seek you, you are all I have, all I long for. My soul longs for you.
I am in no way saying non-revs are lepers, but that day I felt abandoned. I felt on the outside of the everyone else. Yes, we finally made a 9 p.m. flight. So by the end of the day (for someone who takes at least 3 baths a day and yes I know that is not normal) I felt unclean.
Blessings until next time,
Kristie
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