Wounds And Lights

I sat at the gate, reading my ebook while waiting for my plane to Vegas. A very large woman sat across from me. She was wearing flowered shorts and a striped shirt. Her hair was greasy and she was missing some teeth. But I am above nasty, gossipy, snap judgements about people. Yes sir. I didn't even think all the prejudiced thoughts that were sure to flood the minds of lesser beings. I glanced up. She was looking at me. I quickly averted my gaze.
"Do you have the time?" she asked sweetly.
I told her the time, and quickly feigned absorption in my book.
"Do you have a phone I could use?" she asked.
Do I lie, I wondered? Do I hand my perfectly bacteria free phone over to a total stranger, and frankly one who looked like she may not have bathed in a long while? Do I just say, "No speakee English."?
She must have noticed my hesitation because she said, "I use Cricket and can't get cell service here. My friend is supposed to meet me at the gate in Las Vegas and I am not sure she knows where or when. I haven't seen her in thirty years. We just found each other on Facebook."
Thirty years....I wonder if she had looked the way she did now thirty years ago? Her friend might be in for a big surprise.
"Sure," I said, making a decision, and handing her my phone.
She tried dialing but then handed it back to me.
"Could you dial for me?" I noticed that she had typed nothing remotely like the number she handed me on a slip of paper.
I dialed and returned the phone. Then as she waited to speak, she went into a fit of coughing. I cringed thinking of how many communicable diseases now lurked on my phone.
She spoke to her friend and then handed me back the phone.
"Thank you," she said.
Then she settled back in her seat and her knee was jerking up and down.
"I have never been on a plane before," she said.
I am sorry to say that my first thought was please please please Lord don't let her be sitting next to me.
"Are you nervous?" I asked, forcing myself to remember Whom I serve.
She nodded.
"Don't be," I said, "They usually stay in the air just like they are supposed to."
She laughed, "I hope so."
Then she smiled at me with such sweetness that I had eeked out a few moments for her, that I decided her friend was going to be very happy to see her. Despite the likely germ infestation multiplying on my phone, I was glad my better self had won out on that exchange.

When we got on the plane, it was jam-packed. There was one empty seat. It was right next to me. I had all the room and comfort and privacy in the world.The best seat on the plane.

Shortly before we were to land, the lady in front of me stood up. When she turned around, I saw that her entire face was painted bright red. She had little red horns on her head, and a red cape. Some other nearby passengers asked if they could take her picture.
"Wait, I have a halo too."
She pulled a frilly white halo from her purse and put it on her head. The devil and the good angel at war for the same soul.

I was the first of my extended family to arrive in Vegas. The others get in today. I had the first evening all alone in a new place, something that hadn't happened to me in at least thirty years. No kids to placate or worry about, or meet the needs of. The only one I had to satisfy was myself. I checked in to the hotel and then hurried onto the Vegas strip. If you don't like chaos, noise, mayhem and crowds, don't go to Vegas on a Friday night. It was an absolute assault on all my senses. Brilliant garish lights and faux famous landmarks filled the skyline- the Eiffel tower, the Statue of Liberty, the giant MGM lion, ancient statues, towering buildings with lights and color bouncing off them like popcorn. Fireworks, magnificent fountain and music shows. People everywhere laughing and jostling each other. And on every corner were scores of young men handing out lewd pictures, small pornographic cards with a woman's name on it. They wore signs that said, "Girls, girls, girls, we get them to you within 20 minutes!" Young beautiful girls with hair like satin and skirts that barely covered their bottoms stood on 5 inch heels next to dapper men with slicked back hair. The girls looked bored, waiting. Waiting for the doors of hell to open, I thought. I wanted so badly to take their hands, to say, "Surely there is another way." To lead them out of this. Every building I entered had men stationed at the door handing out the cards, with the nearly nude girls stamped on them. They handed them to every man that entered the hotels. I glared at them. They were largely teens or young adults. This was the life they had chosen.

I headed back to the hotel, passing a man with a microphone on a street corner, reading from a Bible to all that would listen. The crowds around him were very small.

And I thought of the lady on the plane with the devil horns and the halo on her head.

Isaiah 53:5, 6
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

-save a dog- hollowcreekfarm.org