Today’s society is full of fashionistas eager to show off their new hot shorts or designer shoes. Why are some of us so afraid of showing our beliefs?

This summer I waited five hours to board a plane in Fort Lauderdale bound for New York. My entire family and the rest of the passengers were exhausted and agitated as we finally boarded the plane at ten thirty at night, but deep down I was also harboring fear. I took the window seat next to my grandmother, half of me wanting to get the flight over with and go home, the other half of me wanting to beg the flight attendants to let me off the plane. My grandmother and I are both equally scared of turbulence and probably heights, so we fidgeted as the plane taxied. Deep down I had this, I don’t know, feeling that something would go wrong. I mean, the whole day had been unsuccessful already, right? The only thing that would comfort me, I figured, was to ask God to keep me safe. I looked around at all the passengers, sporting their sunglasses and bright clothes to show off their new tans and wondered if any of them were scared, too. Maybe the rest of them thought their luck had been for the worse?

When should I bless myself? I don’t want to show that I’m scared, I thought. As the plane was about to take off, the lights in the cabin flickered off – a normal occurrence – and then directly back on. In the darkness I wondered, Is this the right time to pray? When the plane was lit up again I was still looking around and saw countless passengers blessing themselves. My mom turned to my grandmother, “I caught that!”
It was comforting to see that so many of the people around me shared my fears, even if they didn’t want to show it. Like me, were they embarrassed to be scared and need a little faith? Were they embarrassed of their religion? Whatever their reason for blessing themselves, many of their faiths were revealed and displayed right alongside their designer clothes. We all had fleeting moments of insecurity but our pilot and faiths kept us safe and secure.