Keeping the Plane in the Air

     Flying is an inherently dangerous activity.  There is an adage in flying that I live by, “it’s better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here”.   You can get hurt if you are not prepared, fit, aware and wise.  In pilot training they were very serious about emergency procedures.  We would be drilled on them and ‘grounded’ for the day if we got even one wrong.  There were 3 universal procedures that applied to ANY emergency you had:

      1)      Maintain aircraft control

      2)      Analyze the situation and take proper action

      3)      Land as soon as conditions permit

           That pretty well covers most situations.  If you miss rule number one the rest of them don’t really matter.  If   you don’t do 2 very well you make take an action that actually puts you in worse shape than you were in.  Rule number 3 sometimes goes without saying but others times is not quite so obvious.

With flying situations emergencies tend to be pretty cut and dried. An engine quits, the gear doesn’t come down or a piece of equipment quits running.  There are nuances in some cases but for the most part the diagnosis is obvious and the procedures are straightforward.  The ‘noise’ of the situation like severe turbulence, a thunderstorm, zero visibility, or personal problems cloud the issue and make it much more difficult to diagnose the problem.  Emergency procedure and extensive training help pilots correctly determine the problem and either fix or work around it. Captain Sullenberger responded well in a very dire situation.  He didn't panic or react poorly.

 

Life is not unlike flying from that perspective.  How many times have we lost control of the situation?  Do we increase the tension in a conversation rather than quieting it down. Do we have a panic or anxiety attack because you don’t know what to do with the situation?  Do we really know what the problem is or are we reacting to the wrong issues or symptoms.  The more I experience servant leadership I find there is a growing wisdom about the symptoms and causes of problems.  Isn’t that really the heart of the matter? When a pilot reacts to an engine fire/failure by pulling the wrong shutoff ‘T’ handle he has forced himself into a devastating response, one that could lead to fatal consequences for everyone on board.

 Do you react or respond when life’s crises hit you?  Do you seek God for His still small voice when everything around you seems like noise and distraction? Practicing on the small challenges prepares you for the larger disasters.  Learning the emergency procedures of spiritual disciplines prepares you for those when you don’t know how to respond.