Love is Kind...

This past week I attended the annual EAA Fly-in at Wittman Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  As a former air traffic controller and a 34 year career in aviation, this is the highlight so far.  If you have never been here it is impossible to describe.  There are thousands of aircraft here and several hundred thousand people.  This is the World's Greatest Aviation Celebration. 

There have been many highlights and a few low lights as well.  One of the low lights was an accident with a corporate jet piloted by Jack Roush, the famed NASCAR team owner and car designer.  Jack did survive the crash, but his business jet did not.

But, I am not here to talk about the airplanes, but about a single instance that I witnessed between a father and his son.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7


I am here working a booth for my job, which includes a simulator of a Boeing 737 airplane.  On Wednesday evening we were getting ready to shut down for the day and a young boy was standing next to the simulator watching others and I was talking with his father.  I discovered that he was a pilot for Southwest Airlines and his son was probably around 8 or 9 years old.  We offered the son to jump into the simulator and go for a ride. 

Now one of us typically would jump into the copilot seat and assist in the flying, which is what we did.  It soon became apparent that the father son team had worked together on flight simulators at home and this young boy was an accomplished sim pilot.  But the interaction between the father and son was so amazing and showed the love that they shared, not only for flying, but for each other.  The father was extremely patient in explaining and the son was asking the right questions.  We quickly realized what was going on and we asked the father to jump into the copilot seat to allow for full interaction.  I was and still am moved by this whole interaction.  When they were done, they thanked us and began to gather their things.  I then told the father, thank you for what we just witnessed and explained to him he had made my whole trip worth all the effort.

I can only say that I saw the love of God here, the same love that God offers His children.  The same patience and love that God shows us.

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

God's kind of love is directed toward others, not inward toward ourselves.  This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations.  It is possible to practice this love only if God helps us set aside our own desires and instincts, so that we can give love while expecting nothing in return.  Thus the more we become like Christ, the more love we will show to others.

If you don't know this kind of love, I  encourage you to ask God for it, because all you have to do is ask and He will show you the kind of love that I am trying to explain.

Thank you again Captain for this whole experience.