Lessons in an Airport

I used to travel pretty regularly. Often internationally. These days my travel is usually domestic and less frequent. I’ve never been a big traveler, not compared to some folks I know. I’d say, all things considered, I’ve probably had the opportunity to travel more than the average person.

Most of my travel has been on business. So, I often didn’t see the sights or attractions that you might see when traveling for pleasure. In business travel, there are more hotels and airports than sights and attractions. Still, I think one of the things that is special about traveling is to see and meet people who are different than you are. From different places. In different environments.

As I’ve traveled, seen, and met different people, I’ve found that these differences are not as big as we sometimes make them out to be. People are people no matter where we go. Of course, race, culture, gender, family background, national background, all make a difference. These all color who we are. They will impact how we see things. To say our differences don’t matter, while well intended, is simply not practical.  Still, when we look beyond differences, to what we have in common, it can make a difference. Our commonality can trump our differences in our relationships to one another. Seeing our sameness opens the door to understanding and love for one another.

I remember traveling some years ago, while en route to my final destination, I had a short layover in the Taipei, Taiwan airport. Well, it was supposed to be a short layover. A quick plane change really. Off and back on at another gate. We boarded the new plane and waited at the gate for some time. Then the pilot announced that there was a mechanical problem with the plane (just what you want to hear). We were instructed to deplane and that we would have to wait for the repair or another plane (I would have voted for another plane, btw, but no one asked me). So, a short stop in an unfamiliar airport turned into a long one.

I walked around the airport for a while. Then, I sat down and started to watch people. You’ve probably been there, right? While watching, I saw two small children playing. I’d guess their ages to be around two and four. Since I was in the Taipei airport, you can imagine that many of the folks around me looked different than I did and spoke a different language. And yet, as I saw these little children playing, laughing and talking in a language that I didn’t understand, I saw my own children.

Then something really beautiful happened. A man approached from across the airport. These little children looked up and the biggest smiles spread across their faces. It was their daddy. They ran to him. All smiles and giggles. He grabbed them up into his arms. Just an everyday moment.

Why did this ordinary moment strike me as it did? Why has it stuck with me for so many years? Perhaps, missing my own young children while on this trip was part of it. I saw myself in this man and his children. Even though they were different in many ways our “sameness” was obvious. At that moment, I sensed God telling me “You’re the same. I love you both.”

John 3:16 is perhaps the best-known verse in the Bible. It tells us “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Joh 3:16). The word “world” should not be overlooked. “World” does not refer to just the Jews who Jesus was talking to at the time. Nor any other specific race, culture, or nationality. What may seem obvious is completely true: The “world” is all of us. God loved, and still loves, the whole fallen world. Each one of us.   

This moment in an airport was, for me, one of many reminders that, beyond our differences, we have commonality. We are alike. We all have moments of happiness and joy. We all experience grief and pain. We all are loved creations of God. Because “…God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them…” (Gen 1:27).

In our world we too often concentrate on our differences. I said earlier that “seeing our sameness opens the door to understanding and love for one another.” Do you think that is true? Can looking beyond our differences, not ignoring them, help us to love one another better? Can our “sameness” bridge the gap?

So here is the challenge: Reach out to someone who is different then you are. Someone with different political views. Someone with a different racial or cultural background. Talk. Get to know them. Don’t start with the differences. Instead, look for what you have in common. You are both loved creations of God. If you’re already reaching out, just keep doing it. Reach out all the more.

Why? What’s the big deal? Because there are people all around the world, near and far, who are like us. People who need to know about the love of God. They need to know that God sent His Son because He loves them. They need to know about Jesus. That’s far more important than any differences we might have.

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