Friday, January 16, 2009

Non-Frivolous Friday!!!

Honestly, if the truth be told I'm not feeling all that frivolous today. I know I posted on this subject yesterday, but I can't seem to get out of my head this idea that a planeload of about 155 people could have met with an untimely and grusome death yesterday. As I've followed the news stories and prayed for the families of all the passengers and crew, I've had this overwhelming desire to know what was going on in the hearts and minds of different people as they wondered if this was how it was all going to end. Did some of them think about their legacy? Did others think about friendships and relationships that still had unresolved issues? Did someone make a promise to change the way he was living if he survived the crash? Whatever... it would all be conjectural and speculative at best.



But there have been a few interviews conducted (and no doubt there will be many more over the course of the next few days, weeks, and months) and I'm fascinated by what I'm learning went on in the moments just before and after the controlled crash landing. Here are just a few excerpts from a couple of the passengers:
"Then the captain said, `Brace for impact because we're going down,'" Kolodjay said. "It was intense." He said some passengers started praying. He said a few Hail Marys.

"I heard an explosion, and I saw flames coming from the left wing and I thought, `This isn't good,'" he said. "Then it was just controlled chaos. People started running up the aisle. People were getting shoved out of the way."

Fascinating! It's often been said that there are no atheists in foxholes. What confronts you before you die (or at least when you think you're about to die)? I don't know if all the people praying had a personal faith and relationship with Jesus, but when we are confronted with the reality of our mortality, prayer becomes a very comforting tool. While some prayed, others pushed! Again, confronted with our mortality, what is really in us comes to the surface. People were shoving other people out of the way in an attempt to create an opportunity for their own survival at the expense of everyone elses. Our world is changing, but it's not for the better! More than ever before, we need to hold onto a personal faith that at least guarantees that the end will be far more fulfilling than the beginning. Let him who has an ear to hear, hear!!!

5 comments:

Gapper said...

It's scary when you hear those details!-of people actually pushing other people out of the way to save themselves, not caring about others. I'll bet they're not too proud of themselves as they look back on it now! But, we also need to look at what was going on OUTSIDE the plane. All these boats, immediately responding to the crash landing! They didn't know why the plane had gone down-there could have been other reasons-like terrorists on board, or a bomb on board! But, without thinking of themselves and their own lives, they IMMEDIAETLY turned to help others in need. I'd like to think that that still says something to the world about us as a nation. We're not completely lost yet, there is still hope! I Thank God that His hand was clearly in this, and that no lives were lost, and for every person who turned from what they were doing, to pray, to assisst in rescue efforts, and for setting an example of love in action!

Joseph said...

Great thoughts, Gapper. Thanks for adding your voice to the conversation.

Anonymous said...

On the Today show this morning they interviewed a family that had 2 small children. Their seats weren't together so Dad took the older (3?) daughter and Mom took the 9 month old boy and sat rows apart. The mom talk about the man that was sitting next to her. How he made her feel at easy from the beginning, told her that he had 5 children at home and they chatted while taxing. He heard the engine noise change and said that wasn't good and told the mother that they were all going to be fine. When the Pilot told them to brace for the crash landing this gentleman asked if he could brace her son for her since he was bigger. She let him. This man to me was Jesus sitting next to her keeping her calm and her son cushioned.

Later in the show they interviewed 4 surviors and a ferry Captian. There was the cutest older asian woman that said that she was born again and she put her head between her legs and prayed loud. :) She made me smile.

The whole thing is amazing.

Ash said...

this is story is amazing. i'm just coming back from out of town and catching up on everything. i pray that all the survivors take this and live their lives to the fullest...it does something to you to brush w/ death like that. incredible story.

Joseph said...

Theresa, I love the stories of unsung heroes. It always warms the heart to know there are still chivalrous, selfless people out there, even in the midst of a dire, life threatening crisis. Thanks for sharing.

Ash, well said!