In his Monday Moments newsletter, Michael Halleen wrote: “I was on a flight from Minsk to Kiev during one of my early visits to that part of the world. The plane, an older Russian twin-engine model, was boarded through a door in the aft part of the cabin and seated no more than 30 people. When we touched down and rolled to a stop at Kiev’s city airport, I stood and began to gather my stuff, just as I would have done on any American flight.
“A Russian friend traveling with me tugged gently on my sleeve and motioned for me to sit down. For a moment I resisted, until I noticed the other passengers had remained seated. ‘It’s our custom to wait for the pilot to leave first, and we thank him for the flight,’ my friend whispered. We all sat quietly for several minutes until the cockpit door burst open and the two pilots strode up the aisle toward the door in the rear. A number of people said Spasibo (thank you) as the pilots walked by, a few nodded and smiled, and one even reached out to shake hands. Only as they were stepping out onto the tarmac did we passengers stand and begin to file out. ‘It’s the Russian way,’ my friend said. ‘We must be thankful.’
“One can choose the way one responds in any given situation. I can decide to show kindness, determine to answer gently, deliberately adopt a humble spirit, in the same way I might select a shirt to put on in the morning.
“Remember to be thankful. Along with the other moment-by-moment options, I can choose to say thanks. The Russian way is also the Christian way.’”