On the 3-hour flight, I enjoy a comfortable seat and a nice meal and attentive service. And don't forget the exclusivity of the first-class lavatory, so carefully defended by the request that "passengers please use the facilities in your class of service"! (Disappointingly, it is just like all the other lavatories.)
The experience is set up to convey a message: You are special. You are important. You deserve this. And almost imperceptibly, I come to think that way, as though I had "earned" this "exclusive" seat by my own status. (Since when did "exclusive" become a term of approval, as though making good things unavailable to others was a specially virtuous act?)
It's rubbish of course. I'm here courtesy of some random selection by US Airways' computer, not because I paid full fare. Even if I had paid full fare, where did the skills and training and resources come from that enabled me to do that?
Those of us riding in the front of the global plane desperately want to believe that we've earned our seats.
Saint Paul says, though, "What makes you better than anyone else? What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if all you have is from God, why boast as though you have accomplished something on your own?" (I Cor 4:7, NLT)
What do you have that you did not receive as a gift?
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