To See the World…

With the power set, I cruise along at Flight Level 280 (twenty- eight thousand feet ). One pilot, one PT6 turboprop engine and with VHF radios devoid of chatter and no passengers to distract me from the silence enveloping me.   I can see Caribbean Islands drifting beneath me.  As I head northbound back over toward the continent, I am now making my way back home to the land of ice and snow. I realize, truly realize, the scope of the humanity slipping beneath wings and the masses of humanity on the continent ahead and below…

Flying has enabled me to connect and feel connected to different parts of the world with different peoples and different cultures across and around the globe.  One thing I realize is that compassion can be found in any community of people, and sadly at times it can be lacking.

So, the flight continues. I check the remaining fuel, and the weather.  All is good at least for now.  A few memories flash through my consciousness.  I remember the friends I made along the way.  From PNG to Alberta, from Turks and Caicos Islands to Toronto.

One particular memory poked through the veil of aviation concentration that has reminded me about my belief in humanity.  I reflected for a moment…

Anywhere the humanity exists, that is where our neighbour is also…

I consider the words found in one the more famous of speeches by Dr. Marin Luther King Jr., which reads in part…

“…I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…”

I too look forward to the day when as we walk down the street or along the jungle trails, and that we recognize in peace those who would come across our path as brothers and sisters of our Creator.

I have been blessed to have friendships that expand across the globe and reach across decades of time.  All this made possible by living “the crew life” as one friend says, or life as an aviator.

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The radio calls out my call sign, “Descend and maintain Flight Level 270 for crossing traffic”. I am snapped back into the moment.  I appreciate what I have learned along the way and realize the journey is not quite over yet…