If you want to be pulled aside by security in an airport, put a sock filled with flax seeds in your luggage. I didn’t expect such a thing to be so interesting to TSA, but it was, raising eyebrows both times it passed under their scanners.
Why the sock? Well, my therapist told me using it might lessen the arthritis pain in my back and neck. Since I had 15 lbs. of flax seed and some white athletic socks that no one uses anymore, I followed his advice. I poured a couple quarts of seeds into a sock, tied a knot in the end, and slept on it.
I’ve been using my flax seed pillow for months now – and it really does help. I couldn’t part with it when I packed for my trip to Ohio last week, so into my carry-on bag it went.
Though I figured it might look strange to security, I didn’t expect it to be a conversation starter. One agent seemed to appreciate encountering something unique during her assembly-line job. “Tell me about this,” propping my sock up with both hands as though holding a sleepy kitten.
Another shared his own pillow ingredient for pain relief – rice.
At one airport, I allowed my wheeled carry-on to be stowed with the checked-in luggage. I didn’t like being without my emergency supplies (change of clothes, Bible, toiletries, you know . . . ) so on my return trip I bought a tote bag with pink flowers and Ohio printed on the side.
I hadn’t thought about how hard it was going to be to lug it home.
In Detroit’s international airport I carried my new tote alternately in my arms and on each shoulder for what seemed like miles, passing crowds of travelers hovering near terminals taking them to China, India, and Africa. I set my tote down at every opportunity on the conveyors sliding me forward.
It took more than three days to get over the extra pain, you guessed it, exacerbated by the weight of my therapy pillow.
. . . he (Jesus) is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:25 ESV
Jesus doesn’t need scanners to know what’s in the baggage I drag through life. And because he’s my high priest and lives forever, as the verses in Hebrews 7 state, I can have no greater security. He is able to save, period.
I like to separate, in Scripture, which parts are my responsibility and which are not. Who is Jesus able to save? The ones who draw near to God through him. Staying close to him, however, might be easier if I leave more of my baggage at home.
by Kathy Sheldon Davis
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Speaking of carrying less weight, let me point you toward BibleGateway.com. You can read and study the Bible anywhere – on a mobile device that is probably much lighter than socks filled with seeds.
kathysheldondavis.com 