When Tension Mounts, Go Back and Take a Look

by Linda Meadows

With butterflies in my stomach I was relieved and surprised how quickly we landed at the airport. In less than an hour we had moved from Virginia to Georgia. This busy airport has bragging rights of having approximately 250,000 travelers daily from around the world. But in this airport buzzing with activity, I must have misread the sign for baggage claim. Pulling my luggage behind me, I was adamant that the sign indicated straight ahead. I ignored my son’s insistence that it said otherwise.

But not far down, it was clear we were lost. My son gave me an “I told you so” glare. As we wandered, we approached a series of outstanding stone sculptors from Zimbabwe. I stopped, snapped pictures, admired the masterpieces and read the about the artists. I was elated that this mistaken route allowed me to see and experience something so wonderful. I learned the airport has a phenomenal collection of art including these hand carved stone artworks. What we were witnessing was an eclectic body of international artworks celebrating our connection to the divine, the beauty of nature and our humanity. In Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, twelve of Zimbabwe’s outstanding artists captured our life experiences.

I often look back on that afternoon and return to the initial joy I felt. Last Monday I felt the heaviness of life breathing down my neck and weighing on my shoulders. Then the phone rang with a call from my husband. He said simply: “Go back to the airport and look at the beautiful art.”

I feel in my heart that we must encourage each other that gifts await us. These gifts may not come in a formal box with a bow, but they can stir our souls. They arrive when we least expect. Had my son and I caught the correct tram that afternoon, I doubt that we would have seen the sculptures. I think the lesson is pretty clear friends: Enjoy the sojourn because you never know what exciting things await you. And during those low and weary moments, take a look back down memory lane and relish in all that your heart, mind and soul behold!