Chapter 3 - Page 21 - Africa Bound

   Within minutes, the company jet was in the air and slowly ascending to 33,000 feet. Mario leveled the plane and set the speed at 525 miles per hour. The plane settled into a smooth flight pattern.

   Jim looked out the window and noticed God’s handiwork filling the sky above and below the plane. Below, white, puffy clouds looked like snow-covered mountaintops. When they occasionally cleared, Jim glimpsed distant green trees, lakes, and roadways. Above, all he could see was clear sky.

   Chuck, the copilot, walked back to where Jim was sitting. He leaned over and placed his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “Is everything OK, sir? Can I get you anything?”

   “Thanks Chuck,” Jim replied absently, still looking out the window, “but I’m fine.”

   “Nice day,” Chuck said. “Why don’t we all just go fishing?”

   Jim turned and grinned at Chuck. “I’ve been looking out across the sky and it keeps me thinking,” he said, and turned back to look at the sky again. “It fascinates me, how big space is. Space is a mystery that man will never have all the answers to solve.”

   Chuck sounded uncertain when he replied, clearly not understanding where Jim was going with this. “To me, space is just what it implies. Nothing but space.”

   Jim looked back at Chuck. “Space is more than that. Space is planets and solar systems. People think about the sun, the moon, and all the stars and occasionally they think about the vastness of space. What people don’t think about is that space has no stopping point.” He shook his head. “It’s hard for me to understand that space goes on and on, with no end to it. Everything earthly has an end, but not space.