The news has been full of airplane issues lately. Doors flying off at 16,000 feet. Windshields cracking. Unruly passengers. Failed landing gear. The news is full of numbers of people on board or passengers miraculously alive after some terrible event. And that’s what they call them–people, passengers, crew, etc.

My son, who works at the local airport and educates me daily on things related to planes, helicopters and such, says the two critical pieces of information that are necessary if a plane is in trouble are “souls on board” and “fuel on board.” It’s obvious. The truly “need to know” pieces are number of lives potentially lost in the event of a crash and whether it’s likely to be an explosive or fire-y event.

I like the terminology “souls on board.” What if we thought of every human being that we encounter on a daily basis as having a “soul on board”? I bet we would be a little kinder, more patient, and sensitive to that individual’s needs. Maybe we would engage in a little more self-control rather than “pitching” defensive “hissy fits” (that’s a descriptive term for you) or road rages or mindless rants about whatever politics we don’t agree with. That beautiful passage in Galatians about the fruit of the Spirit comes to mind.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)

But then there’s that other critical piece–“fuel on board.” Unlike the airplane about the land in an emergency situation, when less fuel is better, we need to be full up of our fuel–the Spirit. We need to be read up (the Bible), prayed up, worshipped up, and fellowshipped up so we have plenty of that sweet Spirit to share.

I’m going to try to learn a lesson from the air traffic controllers and pilots and airport staff and remember that everyone I meet is a “soul on board”. Spread a little kindness. Engage my self-control. And stay fueled up with the best kind of fuel–the kind that comes from Jesus.