Flying First Class

"You have been involuntarily upgraded."

These are the words that our chaplain said when he began a story in his homily about a flight where he was upgraded to First Class. At first, he was so hung up on the word "involuntarily" that he didn't quite grasp what awaited him when he boarded the plane. As I think back to it now, it reminds me of something like an infomercial that came to real life. Imagine those times when you've flipped through the channels and heard about a product you never knew you needed. Imagine you order said product...And all the bells and whistles were actually audible, doing exactly what they were meant to do.

I listened on as the priest documented being offered everything from warm towels to champagne. As the flight went on, the experience just got better and better...and he had gotten it without paying extra for it, without having to work for it, without even having to ask for it. It was just given to him - for free!

As I settled in for prayer later on, I had an inspiration come to mind: "I've been flying first class since the day I was baptized." I think it's so easy for even the most devout Christians to forget what a gift we have simply by being baptized. We don't recognize how powerful God's grace in the sacraments is. But it is a bit like an "involuntary upgrade." And the more we settle into it and realize what it means to be a Child of God, we realize that it does get better and better. It's not something we work for, and those of us who were baptized as infants didn't ask for it. But here we are living life at the height of spiritual luxury!

I think it's so divinely inspired that these thoughts came to me now. They began on Sunday, April 18th. They continued on April 20th. And I am posting this on Wednesday, April 21st - the 25th anniversary of my confirmation. I feel like this really is a special grace by which God is reminding me of who I am, my identity that was given to me by Him, that He has claimed me as His own without me even asking for it.

Now, I've never been one to book a first class ticket or even be bumped up to first class (voluntarily or involuntarily). But I have come to realize that I'm richer than any of those patrons holding platinum medallion status. I can say this with confidence because I know that I am first and foremost a child of the Kingdom of Heaven where Jesus reigns. My God doesn't deal in the currency of this world. My baptism is worth more than any leather seat that also grants you extra leg room and a personal pop up screen that you can watch movies and play games on. And being in the gaze of the loving Father, residing in His heart, is worth more than the most attentive flight attendant.