Which was worse? A woman praying LOUDLY on a plane (and then negating everything she prayed by her words and actions) OR barefeet toes wrapped around a center armrest?

As a million miler frequent flyer, I really thought I had seen everything possible on commercial air flights. But today’s flight topped them all …

Just moments after the flight attendant moved past row 3 on a (TINY, 2×2 configuration, NO personal space at all) CRJ200, a woman stood up in the aisle, removed her shoes, wrapped her barefeet TOES around the center armrest, and began to do a series of yoga moves. Barefeet toes! Armpits going over other travelers! I was completely shocked.

But my sister and her Fred were unimpressed when I told them the story later this evening.

“That was your flight to Berkeley/San Francisco, right? Yeah. Totally normal. Was she wearing a tie-dyed shirt?”

Nope. But I do wish she had a pair of tie-dyed slippers or something.
 
Still, as grossed out as I was by that, it was nothing close to my (sad, grieving) distaste in response to a woman who sat in the row behind me and immediately upon boarding started praying really really loudly (asking God that she would be a “minister of His love and light” and “bring blessings to everyone she saw on her trip”) …  but who then, 90 minutes later, negated everything she prayed by her (loud) grumbling and complaining:

“I can’t believe this flight is 15 minutes late! Why aren’t we at the gate yet? This is unacceptable! I can’t believe this! These people are incompetent! If I miss my next flight I am just going to DIE!”

Oh oh oh. It was creepy. It was sad. It was way too illustrative of how I am (at least on the inside!) far too often. Maybe I hide it better (but since nonverbal communication is often measured to be over 90% of our communication, I’m probably not really hiding it very well) … maybe I reserve my (terribly sinful!) angry tone only for use around my husband and children (never around my pastor or an event host) … maybe. But probably not.

The truth is that even though my eternal soul is counted holy, perfect, and righteous before God (because Christ’s holiness, perfection, and righteousness were apportioned to me when God regenerated and justified me), the Old Man that remains within me is still desperately in need of God’s sanctifying work. In Christ, we are holy; but we are growing in holiness. Yes, we are already perfect; but we are also growing in perfection.

And I am way more like the loud-praying-angry-woman on the plane than I am unlike her. (But I would never wrap my barefeet toes around an armrest on a CRJ200. Blech!)