A friend used to own his own plane. More accurately, one-fifth of a plane. I never figured out which fifth of it he owned, but you can’t fly a fifth of a plane by itself anyway, so whenever we went flying together, he took the whole plane along.

            I was always impressed by the time he spent before takeoff checking over the plane – and not just his fifth of it. I was impatient to get up into the skies. But no, he walked around the plane. testing every moveable part by hand.

            And when he got into the cockpit, he had a list of things to check. Controls, instruments, safety equipment…. He didn’t just glance down the list and assume everything was all right. He went down the list point by point, not going on to the next point until he had physically examined whatever it was.

            He read each item aloud, even when he had no one else with him. It was his way of making sure he didn’t overlook anything, he explained.

            “If something goes wrong at 5,000 feet,” he said, “you can’t get out and walk home.”

            After that explanation, I learned to be more patient about the time spent on his checklists.

Things to remember

            And I sometimes think I should adopt some of his safety procedures. Like, perhaps, walking around my car before I get into it, to make sure that none of the tires has gone flat, that no signal lights have been damaged.

            I have to admit, too, that I’ve also reached the age where I need checklists. I don’t remember things the way I once did. I’ve lost track of the number of times I have forgotten my wallet. Or my hearing aids. Or my house keys.

            I could print up some all-purpose checklists and fasten them to the wall at the foot of the stairs. Just to remind me of things I might have forgotten on my way out.

            Have I taken my cellphone, in case of emergencies?

            Do I have my sunglasses?

            And did I remember the list of the things I’m supposed to do while I’m out, so that I don’t have to make a second trip later?

Things to leave behind

            As I write those words, it occurs to me that perhaps I should include some things not to take with me. Excess baggage I should jettison before take-off, so to speak.

            Have I left behind out any grudges, anger, or hostility that I may be feeling? Carried with me, they might negatively influence my driving, my behavior at a meeting, or even the attention I can give a friend.

            Have I set aside any prejudices, preconceptions, or lingering bits of folk wisdom that could interfere with learning something new? I can’t deal with new situations if my mind is already made up for me by past situations.

            And am I willing to leave my ego in a storage locker? This one’s tough. But there are sure to be times when I need to remember that it’s not all about me.

            I know I’ll think of more things to add to my checklists, as I go along. But perhaps that’s a good enough start.

*****************************************

Copyright © 2017 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.

            To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca

*****************************************

YOUR TURN

I should get out more. The last time I was in the U.K., they were halfway to converting from imperial to metric measures. I assumed… but one should never assume… George Brigham wrote, “I’m afraid we still have miles and gallons etc. in the U.K. Worse – to reflect on Henry Yorke’s BREXIT comments on your column on the legacy of Saul Alinski – some seem to think we still have an Empire.”

James Russell also had comments about measurement systems:   “The peculiarities of a system can make a difference.  There’s a sense in which ‘the four-minute mile’ or ‘the 10 second hundred-yard dash’ is concrete and challenging in a way that ‘1.6 kilometers in 240 seconds’ or ‘91.4 metres in one/sixth of a minute’ is not.  I’ve heard it suggested that the effort to produce ‘one pound of thrust per pound of engine’ was key to developing an engine able to make a real flying machine.  There’s a sort of genius to sticking to the eccentric human scale.”

My memories of Roger Bannister’s famous race evoked a side of John McTavish that I had not previously known. John was himself a miler in high school.

            “At the district finals, John Smellie from Etobicoke was the guy to beat. I positioned myself right behind Smellie and then with a whole lap to go I took off on my final sprint, running on a great surge of adrenalin, catching my opponent by surprise and opening up such a huge lead that Smellie simply ran out of time before he was able to close the gap.

            “Then came the championship race in East York.

            “The guy to beat this time was Jim Irons, a sensational long-distance runner from Brampton. (I just looked up his statistics on the internet and learned that Irons ended up with a 4:01  indoor mile time and 4:04 outdoor time in 1962.) In the late 50s Jim Irons first gave long distance running, at least in high school circles,  charisma.

            “So there I was up against the great miler in the spring of '59.  I didn't even have a coach. But that's all right.  I would coach myself. The plan was simple. Get behind Irons and stay behind him no matter how gut-wrenching things might get. I knew he had to be the better runner. But I had proven you could win the mile with sheer guts and the surprise factor.

            “Irons and I immediately opened up a startling lead.  I was running faster than I had ever run in my life. Still, the adrenalin kept flowing. It was almost as though it was lifting me above the ground as I matched Irons stride for stride -- the two of us way ahead of everybody else.

            “And then suddenly, around the second lap, I felt a pain in my side the intensity of which I had never experienced before or since. Somehow I managed to keep running, but it was all I could do to crawl over the finish line a dead last.

            “Jim Irons died a couple years ago. But I was the guy who died that day in a way that I have never forgotten.”

“Thanks for sharing that memory,” Isabel Gibson wrote. “It's hard, sometimes, to remember how much technology has changed in our lifetimes.  Today, we'd all be watching the race on our so-called smartphones.  If only we were comparably smarter.”

*******************************************

PSALM PARAPHRASES

Here’s one of those mealy-mouthed psalms I mentioned last week. But perhaps it’s appropriate to mark the Sunday that Jesus knew intuitively might be his last: Psalm 31:9-16.

9          Be kind to me, God. I'm really in trouble this time.
I'm blinded by misery, I've got the shakes all over. 

10        I spend my days hating myself, my nights despising others.
I have turned into a spineless blob, with bones made of jelly.

11        No one talks to me or visits me;
I huddle in my gloom like the dustballs under my dresser. 

12        No one even thinks of me anymore;
I am pushed aside like yesterday's newspaper.

14        I have no one to turn to but you.
You are my only friend, the only one I can count on. 

16        Do not turn away from me too.
Wrap me in the warmth of your arms, and comfort me now.

For paraphrases of most of the psalms used by the Revised Common Lectionary, you can order my book Everyday Psalms from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.

*******************************************

TECHNICAL STUFF

If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, jimt@quixotic.ca.

            To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail message to jimt@quixotic.ca. Or you can subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message or subject line) to softedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at softedges-unsubscribe@lists.quixotic.ca.

            I write a second column each Sunday called Sharp Edges, which tends to be somewhat more cutting about social and justice issues. To sign up for Sharp Edges, write to me directly, jimt@quixotic.ca, or send a note to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca

********************************************

PROMOTION STUFF

To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols.

            Ralph Milton ’s latest project is called “Sing Hallelujah” -- the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at wwwDOTsinghallelujahDOTca

            Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up, http://wwwDOThymnsightDOTca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.)

            Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca>

            I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom

            Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town -- not particularly religious, but fun; alvawoodATgmailDOTcom to get onto her mailing list.

            Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom or twatsonATsentexDOTnet