I'm sure you have heard the saying, "There are no atheist in foxholes!" This refers to the belief that under the stressful situation of war and more specifically with the prospect of death so close at hand, everyone will pray and ask God to save them. We could debate the reality of this conclusion, but certainly this type of situation strips the unimportant issues of life from our minds.
Since I thankfully do not spend any time in foxholes, I can't relate to the veracity of this conclusion. I can, however; relate to a similar analogy. When you are strapped into the seat of an airplane at 30,000 feet you can quickly rationalize your priorities. If your man-made vehicle fails to reach its destination, the important decisions of life are distilled quickly.
I have found this to be a great place to engage my fellow travelers in dialogue. I enjoy meeting new people. After years of traveling you develop a sense of those people that want to engage in conversation and those that wish to be left alone. You may be surprised to learn that very few people refuse to talk about their favorite subject. You now ask, "How do I know their favorite subject?" That is the easy part. Everyone's favorite subject is themselves!
On a recent flight, I was sitting in my window seat on a Southwest flight from Jacksonville to Nashville. An older gentleman took the aisle seat and I watched the passengers coming down the aisle to see who would take the center seat. A young dark haired man made eye contact with the seat right away and politely pointed to the seat and asked the older gentleman if the seat was taken. He collapsed into the seat and immediately extended his hand, "Hi, I am Corey." Grasping his extended hand I replied, "Nice to meet you Corey. I am Barry." It was very clear this friendly young man had been drinking in the airport bar prior to taking the plane. He was not beyond the point of self-control, but his jaw was lubricated pretty well. In this case, I did not have to ask Corey about his favorite subject because he started telling me about it right away. "I work for a turf company in Franklin, Tennessee and am working on several project here in North Florida," He volunteered. With little provocation he began to explain the ups and downs of the turf business.
When engaging a new friend in conversation, I usually follow the pattern of business to leisure to personal. If someone will discuss what they do they generally will discuss more personal things. I usually move to a more personal question like, "Corey, what do you do when you are not selling and installing turf?" This opened up into a wide range of subjects from sports to his fiancee. Next, you probe with a deeper question like, "Where did you grow up?" I have found that in the United States, if you ask enough questions, a person will always get to a story about Christian influence. Corey shared the influence his grandparents had on him. He reminised about the many summers spent with his grandparents, working on their farm. He became a little more subdued as he described the simple faith they demonstrated. He talked about the small country church they attended and how much he missed them.
At this point, you have made the connection and it is important to be sensitive to trust bestowed upon you. The goal is not to bring about an emotional experience. The goal is to cause them to think about what is important and prioritize life accordingly. We talked about those things for the remainder of the flight. We talked about family, legacy and significance. And then the final "foxhole" question, "Corey, if this plane were not to make it to our final destination, what is the only important question we have to answer?"
I'm not sure what decision Corey made. As we landed in Nashville, he shook my hand once again and said, "It was nice to meet you and you have given me a lot to think about." Pray the Holy Spirit will continue to knock on the door to his heart.
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