SS Thoughts #5: Holding On
The
Teacher’s Guide for Cornerstone students (15-18 years) shared a nice story this week. This is the
essence of it:
While
flying a commuter plane on a short trip, the pilot
heard
a loud sound coming from the back of the plane. Handing over the controls
to
the copilot he made his way to the rear and found the source of the noise. The back door had not
been latched properly; and he was sucked out of the plane.
The
copilot contacted the closest airport to make an emergency landing, and
also reported
the loss of the pilot. An immediate search was launched in the area over the
ocean where the accident had occurred, but the pilot’s body was not in the
water.
When
the plane landed there he was – clinging to the ladder on the outside of the plane.
He had caught the ladder and held on for dear life as the plane flew 190 mph at
an altitude of about 4,000 feet.
It
was reported that when the rescue personnel arrived on the scene, it took real
effort for them to get him to let go of the ladder!!
Won’t
we hold on to God’s hand like that? So that it will take real effort for anyone (including
Satan), to remove our hands from His………….
2 comments:
The story ends fortuitous for the pilot and it may be concluded that his lucky stars were all in alignment or that he may have had good karma that day. Some may even add that it was not his time to die, thus taking a fatalistic approach to explain this extraordinary occurrence of the preservation of life.
I want to submit that the above may hold some merit for various persons depending on their worldview however in my humble opinion they seem short of really explaining why this occurrence was a reality while under other circumstances the pilot would have perished. Certainly it may account for something when held on to the ladder to the point that on safely reaching the ground it was difficult to persuade him to release his grip. However I believe that there is another view. I take the liberty to share with you.
According to the Judeo-Christian worldview this world is not occupied solely by terrestrial beings of the human family. In addition there are monitoring spirits that are ever present among us and some of them serve the Designer of this universe. Not only do they observe the activities of humanity but at times often positively intervene in the daily affairs of humanity to execute the will of the Designer.
If I apply this philosophical assumption to this situation we may conclude that beyond the mere human efforts of the pilot to hold on tenaciously to the dangling ladder there was another paranormal element that assisted him in this situation. That is the extra-terrestrial ministering agents.
Why would they do this for the pilot? Was he more favored that others? Such musing may not yield appropriate responses. Worse case they may not even have a plausible human response. However given the nature of the Designer of the Universe who has revealed Himself as loving and being the very essence of Love it is not hard to conclude that a loving Designer in this instance commanded these spirits to preserve this pilot's life. For what purpose I cannot tell but it could be as simple as to have us make the initial applications or muse further for more applications than initially stated.
What catches my attention is that holding on to the Designer is not left for me to decide and execute. Rather there is the Designer that lovingly reaches down to me and orchestrates circumstances in order to preserve my frail existence. Surely the physicists and mathematicians can calculate the complexity of such a feat as the pilot serving this incident occurring and the accompanying probability of such an occurrence. Certainly it may equate to a 'miracle' but for me it demonstrates that the Designer of this universe has a special interest in us and at times like this event He lifts the curtains of daily affairs to reveal a loving heart longing to preserve us so we may have a relationship with Him.
Besides holding on to Him, are you seeking to become acquainted with this loving Designer?
I have no quarrel at all with this view!! It is thought provoking. The idea of a Designer “that lovingly reaches down to me and orchestrates circumstances in order to preserve my frail existence” touches me deeply. And yes, may we daily strengthen our relationship with Him.
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