The Pastor’s Piece – Pastor Kevin Cernek, FCFI Chaplain

FCFI

January 11, 2026

I’ve had a few very diverse experiences in my life – yet somehow closely related. My first trip across the country in an airplane was from Los Angeles to Chicago. I was about 20 years old at the time. Nothing exciting happened on that flight – unless lunch counts as exciting. Back in those days they served full hot meals on airline flights. They let you choose between chicken or beef. The word vegetarian wasn’t on anyone’s menu at that time. I chose a roast beef dinner complete with mashed potatoes and gravy. I can see why they would serve meals, a person can get hungry on those three and half hour flights.

In the earlier days of air travel, they had smoking and non-smoking sections on the plane. The smokers sat in the last 10 or 12 rows toward the rear of the airplane and the non-smokers sat in the other rows. There was nothing separating the two sections, so it didn’t really make any sense because the smoke filled the whole cabin anyway.

Then there was the time the guy sitting next to me soiled himself. He was an older gentleman and rumor had it that this was the first time he had flown. I don’t know if it was a case of nerves or if he just didn’t know they had restrooms on airplanes, or maybe it was something else, but he was glued to his seat in more ways than one. He soiled himself all the way up and out the back of his pants like a diaper that explodes on a baby. He just sat there without moving. The first thing I noticed was the smell, but I just assumed someone had a serious gas problem until another passenger leaned over and whispered in my ear that the guy had had an accident. Someone across the aisle went to get help. About a minute later, the flight attendant crew showed up wearing what I would describe as hazmat suits – complete with goggles, masks, and latex sleeves that went all the way to the shoulder. They escorted the man to the back of the plane then went about the task of cleaning up the seat and sanitizing everything. They managed to get his clothes off without getting any on them and got him into a gown of some sort. He had no carry-on bags so he had no clothes readily available. The nice guy in the seat next to me gave him one of his shirts, a pair of pants, and a pair of socks from his bag. Yes, he needed socks too.

That was an unforgettable experience, but I mean really, being a farm boy I’ve been involved in much worse. A little soap and water and laundry detergent at the end of the day goes a long way.

I remember one time as a lad the hired man was loading the spreader and I was hauling it out. It was springtime and the manure was really soupy. While he was loading, I ran to the house and got a couple of carrots to eat. It was starting to get dark and I was hungry. When I got back out to the cow lot, I sat on my tractor seat backwards, facing the spreader watching him while eating my carrot, while at the same time dodging the splats as they came my way. When it was time to go, I offered the other carrot to the hired man to eat while I took the load out. He flatly refused. (And I think he gagged a little too). He said there’s no way he could eat anything in those conditions. 

Back to air travel – One time the plane was descending, the landing gear had been activated, and we were about to touch down when suddenly the landing was aborted and the pilot gave it full throttle ahead and we went back up into the sky and circled around for another try. That’s always a confidence builder when the pilot comes on the intercom and says we’re going to “try” again. It took about 45 minutes to make a full circle and get our bearings and permission to land. The whole time, there was a lady in the seat behind my wife and me crying loudly and exclaiming over and over and over again: “We’re going to die! We’re going to die! Ohhhh – we’re going to die!” That was annoying. A flight attendant tried to calm her down, but to no avail. She just cried all the louder. Finally, someone knocked her out like they do on the A-Team and we had a little calm – just kidding – we touched down safe and sound, none the worse for the wear, except for her nerves.

Another time, the flight attendant opened the overhead compartment while we were airborne and a suitcase fell out and hit me right on my head. She apologized profusely and the next time down the aisle she dropped a large size bag of Cheez-Its in my lap – for free!

Finally, my brother (bless his soul) was taking us to the airport in Madison, Wisconsin. He prided himself in knowing all the backroads in the area and he took his sweet time taking us through every small town between our house and the airport. My admonishing him to hurry along did nothing to hurry us along. When we finally got to the terminal, our gate was closed and we weren’t allowed on the plane. My brother complained to the attendant at the counter: “You mean to tell me,” he said, “if we’re two minutes late for our flight, it leaves without us?” Um – yeah. That was a nice seven hour delay waiting for the next flight.

Jesus said: “In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33).

(Kevin Cernek is Lead Pastor of Martintown Community Church in Martintown, Wisconsin)