The Eagle Has Landed

Despite my redundant home-coming, the fear of flight always attacks me and clouds my mind. Excitement could not totally squeeze me tightly; the thought of flying painfully sneaks in and is sandwiched in between. So I solicited prayers.

One of my church siblings recounted the agony and horror of being on an 8-hour flight solely. She experienced bad airplane journeys in the past, the long travel to Europe psychologically murdered her. But she was able to overcome all these. She shared to me her secret.

I checked in early, I paced to the boarding gates ahead of the 520 pm deadline. I chose a solemn chair, took hold of it, neatly positioned my belongings to the sit beside me, and blessed myself. I closed my eyes and recalled to be in His presence. I uttered my prayers.

The weather for the past days, both in Singapore and Philippines, was maddening. Heavy downpour infested the area and has procrastinated its stay for a couple of days. July is the typhoon season in the Philippines; I remorsed having been persuaded to book a flight in a small plane as Tiger Airways, given the situation, mainly due to its cheap rates. Turbulence has always been in my black list. My heart stops every time the plane descends un-deliberately; even the slightest twitch increases my blood pressure to the maximum. My heart is sliced in two pieces, my hands tremble and the sweat glands produce the stickiest of secretes. Anxiety befriends me.

I boarded by myself, worries all packed in my luggages it exceeded the allotted weight of 20 kilos. But God was with me. A sibling blogged her 8-hour plane ride ordeal, and how God, in His magnificence, rescued her from senseless paranoia. He salvaged me today. Rain did not occur, not even a drop of drizzle touched the tongues of the thirsty landscapes, in both my places of origin and destination. The plane's take off today was as smooth as a baby's lullaby. The ride was bumpy in the middle, like the normal hump I experience in road trips every single day. I imagined being in a class trip where things flew and scattered all over but the kids were enjoying and did not even notice them. That's faith.

I remember once a cab driver told me that Someone up there loves me. The rain was nonstop during his whole drive but it came to a halt upon my acquisition of his service. Today was a deja vu. I offered a short prayer and a decade of Rosary to Mother Mary, and amidst the rough, tumultuous weather mood precedently, the sun conquered the clouds. It accompanied me all through my three and a half journey. The names of the pilots in command were mentioned at the commencement, but one name echoed in a whisper. 'He who calmed the raging seas and roaring wind, they woke Him up to silence the storm'. And He did. He was my pilot in command today :)