It sounded fun when my friend Kerry asked me to join him, so I casually replied, “Sure, why not?” But there were a lot of things I didn’t know at the time. Maybe it was better I didn’t, as I might have thought twice about accepting his invitation.
Kerry had recently gotten his pilot’s license and was looking for opportunities to get some practice. I had never thought much about flying, and I traveled frequently for work and vacations. What could go wrong?
But flying an airplane can be dangerous, especially for a new pilot, which is exactly what Kerry was. Thousands of feet in the air, all kinds of things can happen, some of them bad. It’s harder than many think not only to stay on course, but to maintain elevation, keep the wings level, and deal with lots of other variables all changing at the same time.
Including one I had never considered: becoming disoriented from vertigo.
Our own journey is like that and navigating life can be difficult at times. Things get confusing, and we can lose track of where we are going. To stay on course, in flying and life, we have to be careful.
Because we can’t always trust our senses.
When We Can’t Trust Our Senses
My pastor actually spoke about the condition of vertigo one Sunday, and the points he was making stuck with me. In his sermon, he referenced information he had read about flying:
“Disorientation, or vertigo, is a state of confusion resulting from misleading information sent to the brain. The most difficult adjustment that you must make as you acquire flying skill is a willingness to believe that, under certain conditions, your senses can be wrong. You can overcome the effects of vertigo by relying upon your aircraft’s instruments. Read your instruments! They are the best insurance you will ever have.” (Studentpilot.com)
I was in my early twenties when my friend Kerry got his pilot’s license. That’s a self-assured, “bullet proof” age, and I had never been flying in a small plane before. It was a clear day, we would have 360-degree visibility, and there’s nothing to run into. “No problem.”
Luckily, nothing did go wrong, at least not seriously. But as the plane banked, climbed, and dove, I realized how easy it was to become disoriented. I saw that you couldn’t always tell what position the plane was in because there was nothing that served as a reliable reference point. It was disorienting even without vertigo.
But Kerry remained calm even as I grew more and more nervous. When I asked how he was dealing with the difficulty of navigating in three dimensions, he explained his secret, which is one of the first things pilots learn.
He watched his instruments, and that is what helped him stay on course.
Trusting Our Instruments
Pilots may suffer from vertigo, and so can we. As we travel through life, it’s easier to become disoriented than we think. Sometimes, we may be suffering from a form of vertigo and not even know it.
Just as in flying, it happens when our brain is presented with misleading information.
Our culture sends us bad information constantly through television, movies, and the internet, and our sense of right and wrong can become distorted. Other people may give us advice that leads us in the wrong direction, or they may set a bad example we follow without thinking about it. Our emotions and instincts can mislead us, directing us toward impulsivity or distorting our point of view. We can be tricked by self-deceiving messages of denial telling us that our bad habits are not really so bad after all.
But we also have instruments we can use to navigate, even when we’re disoriented. Prayer and meditation help us stay on course, and the Bible can serve as our “true north.” When we are confused or overwhelmed by the information being presented to us, we need a reliable source of input to not only guide us in the right direction but to keep us safe as well.
A simple lesson, perhaps, but one that can help us travel through life more effectively. Whether we use these spiritual instruments often now, or maybe not so much, the metaphor can remind us how we stay on course.
Vertigo is real, and it can happen to us. Which means we need to learn to trust our instruments even when we can’t trust our senses.
Question: Do you believe you can always trust your senses?
Action: For today, make a specific choice to use prayer and meditation to confirm your direction.
