From birth, (and even before my birth,) I have been blessed with spectacular parents that seekonly the best life for me. Though I am a teenager and my personal emotions have run high, they have been the steadfast pillars of guidance that have raised me to be the man I am today. In many ways, their greatest success was bringing me into the church as a little baby, for St. Michael’s Orthodox church has also raised me – alongside my parents – to be the well-upstanding, optimistic, and true servant of God that will inevitably leave a legacy with the church and the world as a whole, as I take the next step in my life story and study aviation at the University of North Dakota.
In many ways, the church has taught me and prepared me for my future as a commercial pilot. I believe many parishioners would agree that being a servant of God, and striving to act in God’s image creates a truly responsible and perceptive person, amongst many other key attributes – attributes crucial for aviators to have. For the record – it does indeed take serious responsibility to handle an aircraft in accordance with the FAR-AIM regulations book. (Ironically, these FAR-AIM’s are about the dimensions of a bible one can find in a hotel room, and are sometimes called by my instructors ‘the pilot bible.’) FAR-AIM’s dictate how a pilot and their aircraft must behave while airborne, much like how the Holy Bible dictates how we as Orthodox Christians should live. As for aviation, one false move and you could break airspace, and put many lives in danger. In my future commercial pilot, I’ll be flying upwards of 300 people in a tin can at 35,000 feet, with each of those people putting their lives in my hands. The church, as well as my parents, have helped place structure in my life so that I can learn to proficiently and confidently carry out these duties and keep my passengers safe, even in the most stressful of situations.
In today’s day and age, society makes it difficult for religion to take center stage in everyday life, and I feel that Fr. John often preaches that our faith should take center stage, not just in our dialect and lifestyle, but more noticeably in our personality. God calls us to be kind, most prominently in the parable of the good Samaritan. We may speak the truth and the word of God, but to act upon those words, to go out into the world and make an impression on other human beings’ lives is the fundamental truth that we should all strive for. What I mean to say by this, is that leading by example affects everyone around you. If that example is God? You leave the impression of the Holy Spirit everywhere you go, in everyone you interact with… Even the air traffic controller who’s having a stressful shift. Even in the classmates and peers you find while at university that share the Orthodox faith. You leave a legacy of our Lord himself everywhere you go.
The legacy I will leave is not simply with St. Michaels, but with all those I interact with as I strive to be the person God wants us all to be. While being a pilot it will be difficult to maintain attendance at St. Michaels, I will always remember my roots at our parish, and never forget who this House of God has shaped me to be. I wish to share that person with the world. I want to leave the spark of compassion, grace, and confidence that Father John, Deacon Dan, as well as all my fellow altar servers leave in me… The spark that the Spirit of God gives to us all. While the spark I give may not drive others to devote their lives to the Orthodox faith, in many ways, they’ve still been touched by God. My legacy may not be one of the Diaconate, the Priesthood, or within one specific church community… But my legacy will be kindness… Compassion… And steadfast love… As God has shown me.
