So Very Thankful I

I am writing this blog post from the airport in Honolulu, HI. I tried to get back to the mainland (for reasons unknown) three times yesterday. I have four attempts lined up for today. It's not that I want to leave, I just really want to get home now.

So here I am spending the night at an airport with maybe 50-60 other weary travelers. And I can't help but be thankful. Yes, it's a bummer that I'm stuck here with no soft surface for my head. And that my checked bag is probably already at home and I have the clothes on my back, no deoderant and no toothbrush (I did think to pack an extra pair of underwear in my backpack).

But I'm trapped in paradise. I have the means to get here, the time to take off, the money to spend, and I love that I'm here. It's just that it's a little humid tonight in Honolulu and the part of the airport we're in is open-air. Crazy, eh? But Starbucks is open!! Eh. Five more hours until the city bus starts running and I can at least get out of the airport for a few hours and see if I can find a shower and a clean shirt somewhere. Maybe I'll go to IHOP, the only place to find oatmeal in Waikiki.

I've got some brilliant pictures which I'll post at some point. Perhaps tonight.

Since I'm not doing anything else...

The Wisdom of the Wonder Years

America

Over the past month or so, I've been slowly working through The Light and the Glory, by Peter Marshall and David Manuel. It talks about the role that Christianity played in the formation of our country.

There's a quote from John Adams, in a letter to his wife Abigail, where he talks about the day that the Declaration of Independence passed Congress:

"will be the most memorable....in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn actos of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.
You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means."

Interesting, no?