Arrivals and Departures

All these threads. Where to begin?

A counterpoint: God knows who you love.

I drove to Chicago Sunday night and pulled my California brother and his family out of the sky. We had trouble with the pickup. His cell phone wasn’t working. Finally my sister-in-law used a pay phone. I should have just parked and searched for them.

God knows how we ever connect, who we’re going to love. But then the curtain parts and we glimpse it: My friend holding his grandchild. The child will never know what the man gave up for that moment to arrive. John, the lover, knew.

My missionary friends flew across the ocean on Monday, leaving the kids and grandkids behind for the next five years or so. God knows who you will love.

Mostly we don’t know how deep things go, who will pull us out of this life, who will compel us to remain. Mostly we stand listening, waiting for the arrivals and departures to be announced and the luggage to be claimed.