Jimmy Patterson: Camp counselor capitalizes on teachable moment aboard flight
By Jimmy Patterson
Returning from a week’s vacation via an all-day series of flights from New England to West Texas is not something anyone would necessarily relish, but something rather remarkable happened during the Kansas City to Dallas leg of our journey home last month.
All too often in our world today, good things happen but are left unsaid. Such would have likely been the case with Chris, a young man from Manchester, NH, who was on his way to The Pines Catholic Camp in Big Sandy, near Tyler.
His story, though, should be told.
My wife Karen and I both noticed Chris as he made his way to a seat behind us. He wore a Franciscan University hoody and he flashed a pleasant smile at us and we both noticed he seemed to be a nice guy, a fellow Catholic, but we thought little more of it.
A few moments later, two small boys, one who looked 8, the other who was maybe 10, got on the plane alone and the flight attendant guided them to the first available seats she could find, which happened to be next to the young man with the hoody and the pleasant smile in the aisle behind us. Over the course of the next hour, as Karen and I would hear, this young man on his way to Catholic camp might have very well changed the lives of two boys, both of whom had mentioned they were on their way to their other set of parents, the products of a divided home.
Chris introduced himself to the boys and for the rest of the flight gave of himself freely and selflessly. He engaged the young boys in conversation. The three talked about movies, played tic-tac-toe and paper-scissors-rock and at a few points during the flight, the opportunity to share more important things arose. Chris told the boys about Mary and how she prays for you if you ask her, and he told them of a time in his life when he had once made decisions that had benefited just himself. “But,” he told them, “that didn’t work out quite as well as I thought it would, so that’s when I started to make decisions that would be for God’s benefit instead.”
Obviously, the young man’s decision to serve God is a win-win-win. It’s a decision that has been good for God, good for Chris, and on this particular day, good for two young boys who gained a friend, even if only for an hour-long flight.
I wanted to chat with Chris when our plane landed, but we were running late and had less than 15 minutes to find our next gate and catch a connecting flight to Midland.
I shook his hand and told him what great work I’d heard him doing. He looked at me, smiled and nodded gratefully, but said nothing. To top everything else off that was good about this young man, his humility was obviously firmly in place as well.
Chris’ actions aboard that airplane brought to mind the time on a New York subway in April 2008 when Karen, our son and I crowded onto the train after having heard Pope Benedict XVI address more than 50,000 at Yankee Stadium. Also in that car were five seminarians from St. Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. As the train picked up speed and took us further away from the holiness of the day that had just occurred in The House That Ruth Built, one of the seminarians began singing “Hail, Holy Queen.” Two notes later, all five had joined in. The subway car fell silent but for the sound of these young men singing. When it was over, there was applause and joy at the spontaneous outpouring of song and prayer that had just occurred. Subway riders, hardened New Yorkers, had tears in their eyes.
In many ways, listening to this young camp counselor give so selflessly of himself reminded Karen and me of those moments aboard that packed subway train.
Grace abounds. Goodness is all around. And when you see it, recognize it for what a wonderful thing it is, and then share it with others so that it can multiply.
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(On the Web: www.thepines.org).
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Jimmy Patterson is Director of Communications for the Diocese of San Angelo.
