Beyond the Clouds by Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, S.A.C. | Page 16

Many of us have had the opportunity to fly in airplanes. From the time I was
little, these human wings have always fascinated me.
By God’s blessing, I have lived this fascination beyond what I could have ever
imagined; flying from continent to continent in all sorts of planes. Whenever
possible, I try to get a window seat; seeing God’s marvels from above, and
connecting with the world from a vantage point more similar to Heaven’s.
How amazing, such huge machines- weighing thousands of kilos- sustained
seemingly by thin air! There we are, simply seated between Heaven and earth,
feeling safe and at ease. At times- somewhere over the Atlantic between Europe
and South America- I have tried to shift away from this comfort; imagining if
the plane should go down! We are hardly aware that there is only a thin sheet
separating us from life and death; or, perhaps we rather not think so!
Is not our human life something like traveling in an airplane? The journey
from birth to death is our trek around the globe; the distance is great, but not
infinite. It might take sixty, eighty, or 100 years if we are lucky, but
nevertheless, there is an end.
Rome to Melbourne: it is long, but the plane shall land. Such is human life.
The raw truth is what St. Vincent Pallotti tells us; “life is short. Time is
passing. Today alive. Tomorrow dead. One God, one moment, one eternity. One
moment that escapes us, one moment that awaits us!”
This awareness is not to make us nervous and insecure, just as a plane ride
would be terrible if we only thought about it going down! Simply, living in the
conscience of our mortality can make a world’s difference in this very short
span allotted to each one of us.
If this is all we have, then live and let live! Live each moment of our beautiful
life like a once in a lifetime trip to the Holy Land or the Alps. To live in
mortality means to cherish each breath; to make even the smallest of things
memorable. We will never be here again!
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