Flying Lessons
There I was seated on the plane. A place I really don’t choose to be because I don’t like flying. I’ve not been one ever to enjoy the bumpy rides. You know those rides that toss you around and some people are exhilarated by them. NOT ME!
I had two experiences on two different rides as a child, and the memories of them are not good. It ended in pain and injury. So, NO BUMPS FOR ME.
The funny thing is my sister is an air steward and my brother-in-law is a pilot. I have had many a conversation with them about different “air bumps” or turbulence to find out from them, for they fly so much, what is normal. I don’t fly often enough to know what is “normal” and what is not.
Anyway, on one of my recent trips, to fly to some mission events the Ministry was putting on, the captain announces right at the beginning of the flight to expect some turbulence. Oh dear! My heart rate starts to accelerate. My breathing gets shallow and the panic already starts to arise.
That’s when I talk to myself.
You know the pep talk.
“It will be fine.” “It’s quite normal.”
I always ask my family to pray for me the day before my flights, to pray for good weather etc.
Then I prepare to distract myself, with a book, a movie, anything…..
Then I say my prayers and ask God to be gracious to me and help me cope with all of the bumps. This is not the last-minute turn to God thing but what I now concentrate upon on the whole trip. I invite my Mother Mary to stand at the helm with her Son Jesus (who I picture as the infant Jesus holding the world in His hands – for He does) and ask them to travel with me today. I invite my guardian angel to balance the wings and I ask him to invite Bruce’s guardian angel (if he is travelling with me) to balance the other wing. If the turbulence gets really bad, I ask Padre Pio to send his guardian angel to help too.
I then start saying the Rosary with my eyes closed. These prayers can last the two and a half hours of the flight or the six hours or more of the flight time, if need be. It’s amazing how my meditations on Jesus’ life, my mind focusing on Him just in one of the mystery’s can last half an hour. My prayer life while flying is pretty sensational!
If the turbulence gets “pretty bad” (remember to some it’s probably nothing) my mind stops on one line in either the Our Father or the Hail Mary. I start saying this line over and over.
‘“Hail Mary full of Grace. The Lord is with you”… the Lord is with me, my mother Mary, given to me by her son Jesus, is here with me. I have invited her, and she comes. “Hail Mary full of Grace, Hail Mary full of grace……”’
Then if the bumps happen and I’m praying the Our Father, ‘“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” … your will allows these bumps oh Lord, be with me, lighten the bump, blow the clouds away.’ (For often the bumps are due to the air pressure difference with the cloud formation.)
Bruce often at the end of the journey says, “You had a good few hours sleep. Every time I looked over at you, you had your eyes closed.”
I have learned to smile and say, “no, just an awesome prayer time.”
So, I am asking you what do you do when you are in a situation of fear? Anxiety? What practical things do you do to help? What talk do you tell yourself? What prayers do you pray?
Who do you call upon? OR DO YOU TRY AND DO IT ALL BY YOURSELF?
Don’t do that! Call upon Our God, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus, Prince of Peace, who will come and comfort you. He will bring you the PEACE you need. Your heart rate will drop, your breathing will go back to normal. (Remember Bruce thinks I’m sleeping.) Your anxiety will lessen for YOU KNOW WHO IS IN CHARGE.
May these jottings from my journal inspire you to believe in and fall in love with Christ- the hope of the world, as stated in Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord!’
Love
Rosemary
Every week groups of ladies meet together to chat about the things I raise in my weekly blog post and to chat about life in general. We call these ‘Heart Connect’ groups. If you would like more information please click HERE.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What do you do when you are in a situation of fear or anxiety?
What practical things do you do to help?
What talk do you tell yourself? What prayers do you pray?
9 Comments
john Kearney
I think I have fear but not axiety in my life beacuse I am profoundly Deaf. I dont care although I always care for others . I seem okay at bumps at plane.. maybe deaf helps .. same with driving car i dont care if others beep me horn loud or bang often i keep driving .. is that bad ?> lol all i do is stay with deaf community that is enough for me..
thanks the lord John
Rosemary Downes
My praying and focusing on the mystery’s of the rosary in many ways makes me “ deaf to my circumstances” -!this is what helps me.
So you are one up on me when your in a stressful situation
Marilyn
Oh Rosemary, I just love your stories! You are always so honest and humble and I can most always relate. My intense praying moments were during the couple of MRI’s I was required to have! Being slightly claustrophobic I dread them and my heart pounds so fast in my chest! and I pray so very hard, fervently and feverishly the whole time!! It really helps to calm me to know that God is with me at that very moment.
Also, I would like to share when we had to watch my almost 3 year old grandson overnight while his parents were away. I had instructions to have him asleep by 8:00. We had read the stories, had the drink of water and kiss good night and yet he was very antsy, wouldn’t settle down! I started to pray the rosary aloud in a hushed soothing tone, by the 4th Hail Mary he was sound asleep! I thanked our dearest Mother for her help!
Rosemary Downes
How wonderful that Mary and her/ your prayers helped your grandson to sleep. Peace comes when we pray.
Love to you Rosemary
Valerie Lack
Dear Rosemary,
Your story of bumps in flying, reminded me of when we had an 18 year old grandson staying with us for a couple of years. He was learning to drive. To get his hours up, we would occasionally ask him to drive us from the Northern suburbs in Brisbane to Ipswich to visit one of our daughters and her family
I am not a happy car traveller. I do hold a drivers licence which I keep, for just in case my husband becomes I’ll and I might need to get us home. But I choose not to drive for reasons which are another story.
Anyway, this grandson has Asperger’s syndrome, high functioning. His left, right orientation is not well defined.
All the way from Brisbane to Ipswich, My courageous husband sat in the front, instructing. He quickly realised not to say “ Right”. During the instruction, unless he really did mean go right. This boy took things very literally
I sat in the back usually hiding under a coat or jumper ”That way there were no visuals of the unfolding events”. I prayed so hard from journeys beginning to journeys end. Please, please GOD, you do the driving. Please GOD stay in this car with us praying the Our Father over and over. When we arrived, it was Thank You, Thank You Thank You GOD.
Apparently, according to my husband, I make terrified noises when in sticky situations, which terrify him. You can imagine what those noises would have done to the 18 year old.
Your story did make me chuckle. I can emphasise with you 100%
Natalie
Rosemary everytime i am on the highway going to a different part of the city as it is very congested I say the rosary and this keeps me calm.
Maureen
I recently came across this quote from Mother Angelica. ‘Faith is one foot on the ground, one foot in the air, and a queasy feeling in the stomach. ‘ Now when I get that queasy feeling I hope to remember I’m doing something God is calling me to do and He will be with me every step of the way.
Valerie Simms
Rosemary thank you for sharing with us about what you do in situations that cause fear and anxiety. It is ironic Rosemary I love flying on a plane, but it’s my husband that has the trembles when the plane is taking off and landing! Yet there are situations that do cause me to be anxious and fear! In those cases I do talk to myself too! But it’s funny how I think words that are Italian to try calm myself down!!! I then realize that it is far better to pray to our Caring God and ask for His help!!! I find myself talking to Him from my heart with my own words, then I have this desire to repeat a Scripture verse that relates to the situation and how I am feeling. I find doing this very comforting and reassuring! Those times when nothing pops up in my mind, I go straight to the Bible and ask the Lord to speak to me through the Sacred Scriptures. And Like you Rosemary, I do pray to the Lord to send me His angels BOTH spiritual and earthly angels! Then I pray Angel of God, my Guardian dear, to whom God’s Love commits me here. Even this day/night be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen. There have been times when I have asked Padre Pio to pray for me! For Holy Mary, Mother of God and ours too! To intercede for me along with her maternal care for me. Also before I fall asleep I repeat Lord Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, over and over again. Rosemary it is AMAZING how our Loving God responds to me and my situations. What I also find very comforting is when I may be stressed or anxious about something, how rays of light suddenly appears, brightening my room, the path I am walking. And I am reminded that our Lord Jesus is the Light of the world AND the Light of my life. He is with me ALWAYS!!! This just simply brings joy to my heart and the anxiety levels slips away… I want to thank you Rosemary and all those who have shared what they do with the Lord’s help, to lower their anxiety levels and be reassured, comforted. I ALSO want to THANK OUR LOVING GOD for what HE DOES in those difficult and anxious times, FOR US!!!
Deanne Savard
Thank you Rosemary, You have encouraged me to start a Heart Connect group in our Parish. Starting April 12th after 9AM MASS. I am bringing colouring books etc, inviting them to bring there knitting etc while we Pray and Share stories while sitting around a table le PLEASE PRAY for me and the ladies that will come THANK YOU I hope and Pray to do this every Wednesday till the middle of June.