The One

Good morning everyone,
    Although I am not in Africa as predicted on last week’s blog, there are many important updates to share with my readers. The book is in production, the website will be up and running any day now and preorders for the book can commence when the site is live. So why am I not in Africa?  After waiting anxiously and nervously like a bride on her wedding’s eve, our team filed one by one onto the Jumbo plane like kids going into Disney. Our seats were outfitted with the essentials needed for an 18 hour flight, headphones, sleep mask, pillow and a cherry red blanket.  The usual pre-flight instructions were uneventful and the atmosphere on the plane was jovial. About an hour and a half into our flight, the pilot’s voice crackled over the intercom asking “was there a doctor onboard” and just like in the movies, there was.  The decision was made to return to Atlanta. I am glad to announce that the young man was in good condition and spirits as he walked off the plane under his own power like a modern day gladiator.  It was there that we learned that the flight would be cancelled, and so was our mission trip but not our spirits.  We have since learned that we will be able to fulfill our mission in September so our mission was delayed but not denied as our Pastor so poignantly put it.
     “One small step for mankind”, “one hit wonder”, “looking out for number one”, and in the halls of recovery groups we strive to inform the addict, “one is too many” are all phrases that use the number one.  That one decision by someone to cancel our flight started a string of problems harder to solve than the Pythagorean Theorem.  From rerouting 300 plus weary travelers, to feeding us, to housing us, to staffing their customer service desk to the wee hours of the morning, to hundreds of thousands in loss ticket sales, to loss luggage, to upset customers are just some of the problems that affected the airline that comes to mind. Then how about the travelers in our group alone, there was vacation from jobs taken, prior commitments changed, loved ones redirected, deposits to be refunded and the list goes on and on. So when we minimize the number one, we have to be careful.  It takes pennies to make dollars, elections have been lost by one vote, if James Brown’s music was not on the “one” it would just be music, not the  Funk.  We sometimes blame ourselves after an unexpected death to a relative or friend, “if I had one more time to tell them that I love them”. They say one is the loneliest number but if you ask me it is the most important number because I know that if I don’t have one drink today my serenity continues to be granted!