One glorious night decades ago on a late flight to Minneapolis, the pilot came on and said the moon was so full and bright, he was turning off lights for one minute in cabin and slightly turning plane. the moonlight flooded the cabin- people gasped and all was silent for a most holy moment.No cameras or phones existed to capture the momeny- only our hearts.
Experiencing a grief bomb over the last 24 hours - a parent’s death, a child’s marriage ending, and a worsening health diagnosis for a loved one. Your comment about The Something Holding All Of Us pierced my heart. 🥺. Thank you.
This is GORGEOUS Laura. I tend to feel this sense of “Seeing” on airplanes also…something about so much humanity (difference yet also sameness) hurtling through the clouds together. So much belovedness in one place.
I had a similar experience several years ago while listening to a Coldplay album (millennial cringe, perhaps, but I LOVE them) and looking out the window on a flight. It was sudden and stunning and left me silently weeping. I still think about it sometimes.
Not cringe! We love what we love, and there are few things I adore more than a beautiful moment made more beautiful by a musical soundtrack. Your story reminded me of a similar moment on an airplane when I found myself weeping while flying over mountains. Maybe it was the midwesterner in me, but I was just bowled over by the beauty and bigness of nature. Wept like a baby.
Love this so much! Thank you for putting words to that glimpse, that feeling that comes sometimes. And I loved Ballad of Wallis Island too. What a beautiful film!
I love these "coincidences"/nudges from God: After finishing Rembrandt in the Wind on a short flight last night (loved it SO much), I also watched 2/3 of The Ballad of Wallis Island. So crazy to then read your essay the next morning! Can't wait to catch the rest of the film on the flight back home. Thank you for sharing your own nudge from God.
I can relate to the man in 17C, but I loved that he was able to put all the gizmos away and seize a tender moment with a loved one. It is hard to untether ourselves, but if we do and look around there is something so much better to see. Thank you for this visual reminder that love is there for the sharing. Also, I will try to watch the film on Prime! Thank you Laura.
Me, too: I have been him a thousand times! It was such a reminder to set down the screens, the work, the endless to-dos. Leaning back into our own belovedness is a beautiful invitation to accept, whenever we get the chance.
Words like spectacular and exquisite just don’t quite capture this reflection, Laura. They are beyond light and inspiration. They are gift and grace and blessing - as you are - to all of us. And for that and for you, I am overwhelmingly grateful. Tears flowing . . . so blessed to be connected. Thank you.
One glorious night decades ago on a late flight to Minneapolis, the pilot came on and said the moon was so full and bright, he was turning off lights for one minute in cabin and slightly turning plane. the moonlight flooded the cabin- people gasped and all was silent for a most holy moment.No cameras or phones existed to capture the momeny- only our hearts.
Trisha, what a gorgeous story. Thank you for sharing with us. Luminous! We need those collective moments of awe wherever we can find them.
Experiencing a grief bomb over the last 24 hours - a parent’s death, a child’s marriage ending, and a worsening health diagnosis for a loved one. Your comment about The Something Holding All Of Us pierced my heart. 🥺. Thank you.
Oh Mary. Holding you in prayer. May God's Great Tenderness draw near and stay close.
The Ballad of Wallis Island is SO GOOD.
I just peer-pressured Franco to watch it on a plane and he loved it too! What an absolute DELIGHT.
"and it is here that we are, in some pain and with no guarantees, working out our destiny."
~ Carl Sagan
Gorgeous. Thank you so much for sharing this!
This is GORGEOUS Laura. I tend to feel this sense of “Seeing” on airplanes also…something about so much humanity (difference yet also sameness) hurtling through the clouds together. So much belovedness in one place.
Yes! Isn't that beautiful, the moments when we realize we are all held together?
I had a similar experience several years ago while listening to a Coldplay album (millennial cringe, perhaps, but I LOVE them) and looking out the window on a flight. It was sudden and stunning and left me silently weeping. I still think about it sometimes.
Not cringe! We love what we love, and there are few things I adore more than a beautiful moment made more beautiful by a musical soundtrack. Your story reminded me of a similar moment on an airplane when I found myself weeping while flying over mountains. Maybe it was the midwesterner in me, but I was just bowled over by the beauty and bigness of nature. Wept like a baby.
I love this! I am also a midwesterner, and seeing mountains in person wrecks me EVERY. TIME.
Love this so much! Thank you for putting words to that glimpse, that feeling that comes sometimes. And I loved Ballad of Wallis Island too. What a beautiful film!
Yes! I keep thinking about it, the reminders of beauty and joy and music, how they bring us together and how we need them like water.
I love these "coincidences"/nudges from God: After finishing Rembrandt in the Wind on a short flight last night (loved it SO much), I also watched 2/3 of The Ballad of Wallis Island. So crazy to then read your essay the next morning! Can't wait to catch the rest of the film on the flight back home. Thank you for sharing your own nudge from God.
I try to say this sometimes, badly. Thank you!
I can relate to the man in 17C, but I loved that he was able to put all the gizmos away and seize a tender moment with a loved one. It is hard to untether ourselves, but if we do and look around there is something so much better to see. Thank you for this visual reminder that love is there for the sharing. Also, I will try to watch the film on Prime! Thank you Laura.
Me, too: I have been him a thousand times! It was such a reminder to set down the screens, the work, the endless to-dos. Leaning back into our own belovedness is a beautiful invitation to accept, whenever we get the chance.
Words like spectacular and exquisite just don’t quite capture this reflection, Laura. They are beyond light and inspiration. They are gift and grace and blessing - as you are - to all of us. And for that and for you, I am overwhelmingly grateful. Tears flowing . . . so blessed to be connected. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Ginny. Grateful to be connected with you in this Great Tenderness, too!
O, this was beautiful, Laura! Thank you for sharing it.