July 30, 2001
CYBERCOLUMN:
Mondo's welcome home
___By Brett Younger
___OI arrived at the airport in time to catch an early flight, but I was the last one to get on the plane. Everyone else was belted in and ready to go, so they glared like they had been waiting for me.
___I made my way to the back and located my assigned seat next to the window beside a man who looked like he was already asleep. I said, "Excuse me, that’s my seat."
___He responded, "Oh, no, are you sure?"
BRETT YOUNGER
___Then the person on the row behind him said with frightening friendliness, "Come sit with me!"
___One of the first rules of air travel is that you don’t want to sit with a stranger who wants to sit with you.
___My new friend’s name is Mondo. He is an Air Force mechanic and a shortstop who was going to Atlanta for a week-long softball tournament. Mondo’s whole Air Force softball team was on the plane. I commented that I was glad to see that my tax dollar was at work. It was one of the few times that Mondo stopped smiling.
___He has a shaved head that was usually covered by a new baseball cap that he had just gotten from hats.com—a web site that I "just have to check out." He had a book titled, "Commercial Aviation Safety" open most of the trip, but I never saw him turn a page. Maybe even an airplane mechanic recognizes the irony of reading a book about plane crashes on a plane.
___Mondo is 32 years old. He’s been married for 12 years. He coaches a Little League baseball team. He’s been to France, Germany and Austria—which he thinks is the most beautiful place in the world. He was stationed in Italy the longest, but the only thing he can still say in Italian is "extra tomato sauce and cheese."
___ After awhile, I apologetically said, "I need to get some work done," got out my laptop and started typing. After letting me finish at least a sentence, Mondo asked, "What are you working on?"
___ I briefly considered saying anything other than what it was, but I answered truthfully, "It’s a sermon I’m writing for Sunday."
___ He said, "You’re a preacher."
___ I had no choice: "Yes, I am."
___ Mondo then turned to the twentysomething women across the aisle and said, "Hey, I got a preacher sitting right here."
___ The blonde one (no offense intended; that’s what color her hair was) responded, "You’re lying."
___ Mondo said, "Ask him."
___ She asked, "Are you really a preacher?" as though I had claimed to be a pro tennis star or a CIA agent.
___ I answered, "Why would I lie?"
___ "What kind of church?" Mondo asked.
___ I said, "One of the really good ones."
___ "Is it Assembly of God or Pentecostal or what?"
___ "It’s a Baptist church."
___ The blonde woman asked: "Do you know Tim LaHaye? I haven’t read anything by him, but my mother says he’s really good."
___ "No, I haven’t met Tim LaHaye."
___ When the excitement over me being a real-live preacher finally died down, Mondo said: "Let me tell you a story. I was in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. I loaded bombs on planes. I was only under fire once, but there was a moment when I thought I was going to die.
___ "When I was coming home, my mom said that my uncle was going to meet me at the airport. I didn’t think much about it. My uncle is my mother’s only brother. He’s really quiet. I knew he had volunteered for Vietnam, but he never said a word about it. I figured he must not have seen anything worth mentioning.
___ "When I got off the plane, my uncle was there, holding a flag. There was a color guard. Four Vietnam veterans were with him. I had never seen my uncle in his uniform. I couldn’t believe he was standing there wearing some big-time medals—the Army Cross with Valor, a Purple Heart with Valor. I later found out that he had been nominated for the Medal of Honor. During hand-to-hand fighting, he pulled five wounded guys out of the line of fire and was shot himself. It must have been like a movie. For the first time, he gave me a salute, and I saluted him back.
___ "I said, ‘Why did you go to all this trouble?’
___ "He said, ‘Everyone needs to be properly welcomed home. When I came home, no one was waiting with a parade. I want to make sure that you know that someone else understands.’
___ "My uncle went through the worst a war can give you, but he didn’t say anything about it until he wanted me to know that someone understands. Isn’t that something?"
___ Do you know what you call that—people making sure that other people know that someone understands? It’s called "church."
___ Brett Younger is pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth.
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!
