Tuesday, February 19, 2019

"We're Not Going To Crash -- We're Going To Philadelphia!"


A last National Prayer Breakfast (NPB) story.

In this instance, the story of Tammy Jo Shults, who spoke at the last meal event of the NPB.  You might remember:  Tammy was the pilot of Southwest flight 1380, that blew an engine last April, as it ascended to 32,000 feet, after taking off from New York's LaGuardia airport.  As Shults reported the incident to The Washington Post:
“...We had a large bang and a rapid decompression. The aircraft yawed and banked to the left, a little over 40 degrees, and we had a very severe vibration from the number one engine that was shaking everything.  And that all kind of happened all at once..." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2018/05/10/she-landed-a-southwest-plane-after-an-engine-exploded-she-wasnt-supposed-to-be-flying-that-day/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ca4476ef6e37
Passengers understandably, had varied reactions, including panic.  But Shults was centered, exhibiting, in the words of one observer, 'nerves of steel.'

Certainly, her Navy fighter pilot training helped a lot, but as Tammy reflected at the NPR, her faith played a significant, contributing role.  An earlier interview on CBS also revealed that element, impacting not only Tammy but a majority of the crew.  
"...Well, in LaGuardia, when we had a little extra time, we were chatting, and Rachel [a flight attendant] had gotten a new Bible with room to journal on the side, and she and Seanique [a flight attendant] and then Kathryn [a flight attendant] was talking about she was in a study of Psalms, which is where I'm doing a study in Psalms and Proverbs," Shults said of the meeting the crew had before the flight. "When you talk about things deeper than the weather, your family and faith, the things that matter to you, even if they're different, it tends to bring a bond..." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/southwest-flight-1380-captain-tammie-jo-shults-crew-live-interview/ 
As CBS went on to report:  "That shared faith among the crew, who had never flown together before, didn't just bond them; it created a sense of communal calm."  

In the course of the interview, Tammy and crew went on to name the source of their calm:  the peace of God, that passes understanding.  The Apostle Paul describes well, the grip and guard of such solace:   
"...Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus..." (Philippians 4:6-7, J.B. Phillips, emphasis added).
Especially striking is the image of God's peace, keeping guard.  This image would have 'jumped out' for Paul's readers, for as the Expositor's Greek New Testament notes:
"....One of the most important elements in the history of the Hellensitic period was the garrisoning of cities both in Greece and Asia Minor by the successors of Alexander the Great. 
[And so, ancient people 'got' Paul image and emphasis].  The peace of God is the garrison of the soul in all the experiences of its life, defending it from the external assaults of temptation or anxiety and discipling lawless desires and imaginations within, that war against the higher purposes...Christ Jesus is the sure refuge, and the atmosphere of security..."  - The Expositor's Greek New Testament, p. 467-468.  
Did you catch the detailed impact of God's peace?

  • God's peace -- defends the soul from temptation
  • God's peace -- defends the soul from anxiety
  • God's peace -- defends the soul from lawless desires
  • God's peace -- defends the soul from lawless imaginations
  • God's peace -- advances Jesus, our sure refuge
  • God's peace -- advances Jesus, the atmosphere of security

Wow!  No, wonder Tammy Jo Shults and her crew were able to land Southwest Flight 1380 with only one engine.  They were defended from all that could have undercut and distracted their efforts:

  • The temptation to fear the worst  
  • The anxiety of panic-stricken people
  • The unbridled desire to just 'cave' and quit
  • The imagination of a 'crash and burn' outcome

And so, rather than dread and certain doom, Tammy and her crew were able to offer help and certain hope.

Their mantra was consistent, clear, and blunt:  we're not going to crash -- we're going to Philadelphia!

And they kept repeating it over and over and over again. In fact, more than one of the stewardesses 'got in the face' of a passenger to drive home the message: we're not going to crash -- we're going to Philadelphia.

And it worked.  For when you have a destination, there's always hope.  And when there is hope, you can survive anything!

Recently, as I've encountered any number of hope-less persons, I've returned to the famed words of Victor Frankel in his book, Man's Search For Meaning:
“...Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way...” 
Victor Frankel should know.  As a prisoner in the infamous Nazi concentration 'death' camp, Auschwitz, Frankel was surrounded by the most hellish conditions, imaginable.  As the Jewish Virtual Library notes:
"...Dampness, leaky roofs, and the fouling of straw and straw mattresses by prisoners suffering from diarrhea made difficult living conditions worse. The barracks swarmed with various sorts of vermin and rats. A constant shortage of water for washing, and the lack of suitable sanitary facilities, aggravated the situation..." https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/living-conditions-labor-and-executions-at-auschwitz-birkenau
And then there was the forced labor and constant threat of gassing.  Yet, Frankel continued to marshal his attitude, not allowing any circumstance take that element away, as he continued to imagine continued meaning, hope, light -- even in the darkest circumstance.
"...We were at work in a trench. The dawn was grey around us; grey was the sky above; grey the snow...grey the rags in which my fellow prisoners were clad, and grey their faces...In a last violent protest against the hopelessness of imminent death, I sensed my spirit piercing through the enveloping gloom. I felt it transcend that hopeless, meaningless world, and from somewhere I heard a victorious “Yes” in answer to my question of the existence of an ultimate purpose. At that moment a light was lit in a distant farmhouse, which stood on the horizon as if painted there, in the midst of the miserable grey of a dawning morning in Bavaria. “Et lux in tenebris lucet” — and the light shineth in the darkness..." https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/03/26/viktor-frankl-mans-search-for-meaning/
That's how Tammy Jo Shults and her crew kept Southwest flight 1380 aloft last April:  they kept shouting 'yes.'

Specifically, the shouted:  yes, we're going to Philadelphia -- when everything else was shouting we're going to crash.

They kept pointing to the light when everything else pointed to the dark.

No matter your 'death camp,' no matter your engine failure, Jesus is pointing to the light, Jesus is saying yes!

Oh -- your circumstances might not change -- but you can still survive, in spite of your circumstance -- because of the yes, and light of God. I love the way Apostle Paul nets this out in 2 Corinthians 1:
“…We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when [we traveled through Western Turkey]...It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing…” (2 Corinthians 1:8-10, The Message, emphasis added).
God does rescue!

For even if we lose everything -- we do not lose Him.

For even in the darkest circumstance -- the light and yes of God, still resound.  

Giving us reason to keep heading for Philadelphia -- even when it feels, for certain -- we're going down.  

For the God we worship, 'raises the dead' -- giving sure refuge, an atmosphere of security -- no matter what engine 'blows' in life! 

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