Chapter One: Yes Indeed, Good Things Are Worth Waiting For!

November, 2008:

My trip to Israel has been fantastic so far. I want to make sure I report not only the major stuff, (the sights, the history, the culture, the archaeology) but the subtle little nuances, as well.

They say good things are worth waiting for. For so many years, I have been writing about Israel, teaching about Israel, studying the Bible that came out of Israel, and defending Israel from modern day historical revision. But I had never before been to Israel.

I have flown all over the United States as part of my evangelism/apologetics ministry, so the trip to Atlanta, where I changed planes, was nothing unusual. But after going through security a second time, surrounded by mostly fellow Jews in line, I began to feel much differently., Stepping aboard the plane and hearing the friendly stewardess greet me with a warm, “Shalom,” I actually felt as if I had already entered Israeli territory that very moment. This was a strange experience. I had heard stories about how Jews are drawn to their own land, how even Jewish atheists, upon looking out the window of a landing plane feel an unexplainable rush of emotion and sentimentality they never thought possible. In my case, I felt it the minute I walked on the plane. Again, my mind welcomed a repeated thought: They say good things are worth waiting for. After all these years, I still had a 12 hour flight ahead of me, but the feeling of familiarity increased my patience without waning any enthusiasm for the actual arrival itself.

The long flight seemed short, thanks to video selections, lots of sleep, and two meals. I was a bit frustrated, because they asked us to keep the windows closed. We were flying in the middle of the night but toward the sun and it was requested that we not allow any bright light to disturb fellow sleeping passengers. This was Delta Airlines. One thing I love about Delta is the moving screen map where you can trace your flight and see just exactly where you are on the journey. But oh, how sad to know I was flying over France and Italy, without being allowed to look out the window. When daylight arrived, I did finally get a chance to see the islands of Greece but that only made me think about all the countries I had missed. When we touched down at Tel Aviv, it was evening again. The lights of the city looked like any other city I have flown into countless times. But this was different. This was Israel, land of my forefathers, land of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, land of Moses and Joshua. It was even the land of Samson, a real honest to goodness Superman, and I had grown up on Superman Comics. Finally, it was the land where Jesus died and rose for my sins, where the apostles spread their message, and where Jewish history continued another 2,000 years, culminating in the restoration of a Jewish nation in 1948.

I was finally here. And I couldn’t possibly feel more thrilled, more alive. Once again, I thought about how good things are worth waiting for.

Now there is one problem with a 12 hour flight. Sooner or later, you need to use the bathroom. I hate using it on planes and I usually make it the entire trip without needing to go, even on 4-5 hour flights. But if Samson was some kind of Superman, I certainly was not. Sooner of later, I would need to use the bathroom. It was destiny and no amount of prayer, fasting or faith healing would change that situation. I do enjoy the window seats (at least when they actually let me look out the window) but I do not like disturbing people when I need to get up, especially if the person next to me is asleep, a likely possibility while flying through the night. But I had a plan, a well thought out plan: As soon as the lady next to me got up, I’d get up. That way I wouldn’t have to wake her later. Well, it finally happened. She stood up out of her seat. I rose thirty seconds later and began to follow her toward the back of the plane where two choices of bathroom doors would happily greet me.

And then something unexpected happened. The lady walking in front of me began to feel faint. She literally keeled over and fell on the floor. We pushed an emergency button. Instantly, I and a few others, propped her up, as stewardesses frantically searched for a doctor and luckily found one on the plane. The woman was all right, but it took a long time for them to move her and all other pathways were inaccessible, partly because of tied up curtains, partly because of sleeping people, whose feet blocked the way around.

I stood in the isle, unable to move one way or the other, all because I had cleverly calculated the perfect time to use the bathroom.

Good news! Great news! Fantastic news! Eventually, the lady was moved and I did use the facilities after all! I said it before and I’ll say it again: Good things in life are worth waiting for. Trust me. I appreciated this one from the bottom of my heart.

More stories from Israel tomorrow and they will probably get more important as they go.