He is not the master of his destiny. Not always the best contrivances assure the expected results and the permanence of human comfort or pleasure. Ecclesiastes 9:11-12.
These reflections arise from the deepest compassion for the victims of the latest state of the art and ultimate expression of human skill, daring and progress. It is amazing to realize to what point of luxury and comfort man has devised for himself, especially when crossing the air as is done in the present times.
I am not a man of the beginnings of air travel at all, but I still vividly remember the rickety rack air journeys, when facing the sudden up and downs of the winds, involved in the cotton white entrails of the clouds over the gulf or the mountains, on my way to the training courses of my youth.
Traveling those days usually made us to pray, and I really mean to pray, entrusting ourselves to the mercy of the Lord. But do you know what? These rickety racking kept us humble on our knees, even while tighten fastened to our seats, and made more enjoyable to reach our destination.
One of my fondest memories, almost already lost in the fog of the sixties, was when expectations were to spend Christmas alone, but my first two children told me that the gift they expected was my presence and not the toys and clothing I had bought for them at the Post Exchange of the military base where I was being trained.
Delta and Pan American were the busiest airlines of those days and my favorite ones. I remember calling Delta on December 20th. to explain why I wanted to fly on Christmas Eve and their solicitous response of willingness to get me in a fly to do so.
On December 22nd. They offered me a seat in what they called the Milkman route, as the only way to connect with Pan American in Miami at 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve for the last leg of my journey home.
And believe me, it was a Milkman route. Everybody knows what Christmas rush is all about. I still do not remember how many stops we made changing from one propeller plane to another until reaching Miami. But I knocked at my home front door at 7p.m. that night, when no one were expecting me at all.
What a Christmas Eve. What a family celebration. It was worthy to have gone through all the ups and downs, and all the minimum comfort airlines provided at that time. And God was always present even if I was not a believer but a self-sufficient guy at the time.
But as it always happen, at every turn in the upping and downing of the sudden winds´ bursts, I, and I am sure all my fellow travelers, invoked God in the quiet innerness of our hearts, because that journey was one of the silent’s journeys I have gone through in my life.
I am referring to this due to the sharing of friends who sent me pictures of the almost incredible luxury of the Airbuses of today.
These reflections arise from the deepest compassion for the victims of the latest state of the art and ultimate expression of human skill, daring and progress. It is amazing to realize to what point of luxury and comfort man has devised for himself, especially when crossing the air as is done in the present times.
I am not a man of the beginnings of air travel at all, but I still vividly remember the rickety rack air journeys, when facing the sudden up and downs of the winds, involved in the cotton white entrails of the clouds over the gulf or the mountains, on my way to the training courses of my youth.
Traveling those days usually made us to pray, and I really mean to pray, entrusting ourselves to the mercy of the Lord. But do you know what? These rickety racking kept us humble on our knees, even while tighten fastened to our seats, and made more enjoyable to reach our destination.
One of my fondest memories, almost already lost in the fog of the sixties, was when expectations were to spend Christmas alone, but my first two children told me that the gift they expected was my presence and not the toys and clothing I had bought for them at the Post Exchange of the military base where I was being trained.
Delta and Pan American were the busiest airlines of those days and my favorite ones. I remember calling Delta on December 20th. to explain why I wanted to fly on Christmas Eve and their solicitous response of willingness to get me in a fly to do so.
On December 22nd. They offered me a seat in what they called the Milkman route, as the only way to connect with Pan American in Miami at 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve for the last leg of my journey home.
And believe me, it was a Milkman route. Everybody knows what Christmas rush is all about. I still do not remember how many stops we made changing from one propeller plane to another until reaching Miami. But I knocked at my home front door at 7p.m. that night, when no one were expecting me at all.
What a Christmas Eve. What a family celebration. It was worthy to have gone through all the ups and downs, and all the minimum comfort airlines provided at that time. And God was always present even if I was not a believer but a self-sufficient guy at the time.
But as it always happen, at every turn in the upping and downing of the sudden winds´ bursts, I, and I am sure all my fellow travelers, invoked God in the quiet innerness of our hearts, because that journey was one of the silent’s journeys I have gone through in my life.
I am referring to this due to the sharing of friends who sent me pictures of the almost incredible luxury of the Airbuses of today.
I had just kept them in my files. I am sure many were flying to be with their family and relatives, besides those just involved in business deals and busily isolated in front of their laptops and all the plane´s luxury.
I am also sure it is very difficult to remember God in the midst of such a pleasurable environment as we usually did when inside those planes of before.
It is with the utmost respect, that as a basis of my ending prayer of today, that I realize the justness and the reality of what The Word of God tells us in Ecclesiastes 9: 11-12.
“Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skillful; the time and chance happen to them all. For no one can anticipate the time of disaster. Like fish taken in a cruel net, and like birds caught in a snare, so mortals are snared at a time of calamity, when it suddenly falls upon them”.
I prayed for them, as I remembered my awareness of our futile time and helplessness in the midst of our searching living in my youth. But so many other things crowd our minds and time, and just curiously followed the course of the search and recovery that was going on.
But then, a few days ago, I was shaken up to the marrow of my bones, by the two digital photos taken by a passenger probably at the same instant of his sudden death.
I am also sure it is very difficult to remember God in the midst of such a pleasurable environment as we usually did when inside those planes of before.
It is with the utmost respect, that as a basis of my ending prayer of today, that I realize the justness and the reality of what The Word of God tells us in Ecclesiastes 9: 11-12.
“Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skillful; the time and chance happen to them all. For no one can anticipate the time of disaster. Like fish taken in a cruel net, and like birds caught in a snare, so mortals are snared at a time of calamity, when it suddenly falls upon them”.
I prayed for them, as I remembered my awareness of our futile time and helplessness in the midst of our searching living in my youth. But so many other things crowd our minds and time, and just curiously followed the course of the search and recovery that was going on.
But then, a few days ago, I was shaken up to the marrow of my bones, by the two digital photos taken by a passenger probably at the same instant of his sudden death.
I realized the most crucial and subliminal danger of modern life. The easiest to forget that we are just humans fleeting floating in the air of the material circumstance and progress. The easiest to forget that we can suddenly die without being at least able to have time to try to ask for mercy and forgiveness to God for our misdeeds.
For them all, for those who are now facing the judgment of the Lord, for the loved one so suddenly left behind, for me and my own, who could be facing similar even if not so tragic turn of events, I want to raise my hands and pray this way.
Psalm 8: 3-6 and 9. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than god, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,” O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
We know, my Lord, we are just fleeting and feeble light shining on the top of our candle life that can be fizzled out by almost every gust of the winds.
But, when our time comes, slow or suddenly and fast, let us hide under the shadows of your wings of mercy and love, so we can gratefully say:
“He reached down from on high, He took me, He drew me out of mighty waters. He brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me”. Psalm 18: 16 and 18.
For them all, for those who are now facing the judgment of the Lord, for the loved one so suddenly left behind, for me and my own, who could be facing similar even if not so tragic turn of events, I want to raise my hands and pray this way.
Psalm 8: 3-6 and 9. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than god, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,” O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
We know, my Lord, we are just fleeting and feeble light shining on the top of our candle life that can be fizzled out by almost every gust of the winds.
But, when our time comes, slow or suddenly and fast, let us hide under the shadows of your wings of mercy and love, so we can gratefully say:
“He reached down from on high, He took me, He drew me out of mighty waters. He brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me”. Psalm 18: 16 and 18.
Let´s keep on praying because nowadays it seems that LIFE´s lessons are mostly and conveniently forgotten or ignored.
The Airbus builders simplistically asserts the worlds financial crisis is soon to end.
They have received a 10 planes request!
But at the same time British Airwaves is asking its employees to work for free,
to face the crisis, at their expense.
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