Article May 1, 1989 Issue

What's your level of "expectancy" for today?

Prayer that includes an active expectancy of good can have surprising results—even if you're stranded in an airport.

John Parrott

Just what is your expectancy level for today? Is it going to be a "good" day; a "so-so" day; a "ho-hum" day; or an "I'd rather-not-talk-about-it" day?

Before we go any further, let's join a business traveler at a major airport. Do you see him? He's standing over there in the middle of that whirling mass of people close to gridlock status. You notice how his shoulder bags are doing their best to slide off both shoulders at the same time? Over his head, the flight bulletin boards are all going crazy. "Canceled." "Delayed." "Change of gate." Every moment there's another change. To top it off, the unflappable voice of the flight announcer keeps rattling off a litany of even more changes.

So, how would you rate your level of expectancy if you were in his shoes? That is just what the business traveler had to do—put the brakes on and get a hold on his level of expectancy. But he didn't reach that point until he had already started on a mental downhill slide. It began with his accepting that he would not make it to an important meeting in another city scheduled for that same evening. He had found himself thinking, "I can't even see my flight number up there on the monitor, and now they are talking about a snowstorm."

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