 |
 |
|
|
|
|
| Home | Articles | Resources | What We Believe | Have Eternal Life | Links | About Ed | Contact Us |
|
|
Into the Darkness and Back Again: What I learned when I tried to land on a carrier…at night
By Major Ed Rush, USMC
They called it “comfort time.” And while I am not sure who exactly came up with that definition, I can honestly say that, in my humble opinion, the time that were referring to was anything but comfortable.
You see, there is a time in every Marine fighter pilot’s life when he has to land on the carrier for the first time…at night. Notice that I said “has to.” The first night landing is anything but a good deal. It is just about the most dangerous thing that I can ever remember doing. However, as a carrier pilot in the United States Marine Corps, I am proud to be a citizen in the only country that lands its aircraft on a carrier…at night…crazy as it may be.
But I digress…
Some time, long ago, some Navy guy got the idea that it would be good to give pilots some extra time in the air in order to get comfortable before making their first attempt at the carrier deck. Of course, what he failed to realize was that the entire time that one is flying over a carrier, you are far from comfortable. In fact, the entire thirty minutes is typically spent in anxious anticipation of the inevitable. “Can we get this over with please!”
I spent my own “comfort time” trying to keep cool, calm, and collected…trying to be like Iceman from TopGun, not that Cougar guy who couldn’t land on the carrier because he had never met his kids.
Soon enough, my half hour was done, and it was time to head back to the ship.
I lined my FA-18 up behind the USS John Stennis using and noted the thick cloud layer where the ship should have been. “No problem,” I thought, “I’ve been here before, just a simple descent onto my final course and I will be out of this cloud in no time.”
As I descended into the cloud layer 1100 feet above the water I lost visual reference to the horizon and felt a gentle rolling sensation to the left. I tried to correct this by moving the control stick a bit to the right. That correction made the rolling sensation even worse, then worse, until finally I could not take it anymore. A brief scan of my instruments revealed the impossible.
I was flying straight and level!
But wait, it felt like I was tumbling out of control, in a “death spiral” to the left. My whole self was screaming, “Roll right! Roll right! You are going to crash!” Meanwhile my training was quietly whispering, “Trust your instruments.”
“Roll right!” “Trust your instruments”
“No, Roll right!!” “Trust your instruments”
The argument in my head may have only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime. All the while, I was positive that I was about to crash into the water at any moment.
That night, I chose my master, and it saved my life.
Very simply, I was forced to choose between the following: trust myself or my instruments; trust my instincts or my training. I chose to trust that which I did not want to believe, but that which I knew would save me.
Websters defines vertigo as “a disordered state in which the individual or the individual's surroundings seem to whirl dizzily; a dizzy confused state of mind.” I define it as the condition that nearly killed me.
Websters defines training as “forming by instruction, discipline, or drill; to teach so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient.” I define it as the discipline that saved my life.
I trusted my instruments that night, and it made all the difference. I landed successfully aboard the USS John Stennis, rolled out of the landing area, and looked down at my legs which were shaking uncontrollably.
So much for being Iceman, huh?
Success in the Christian life is much like landing on a carrier at night. It is very difficult. It takes discipline, training, and an inherent trust in something outside of oneself. Where a pilot must trust his instruments if he wants to survive, a true believer must trust wholly in the Word of God in order to be successful. There is no other way.
When Jesus was on the earth there way an interesting encounter that he had with his disciples (you can read the whole story in John 16. He had just finished telling them that he was going away and his disciples, ever slow to learn, were asking him to stay. They assumed it would be better if he was there. You can’t blame them – who better to have around 24/7 to ask life’s most pressing questions. But Jesus tells them something remarkable.
He told them that it would be better for him to leave!
With him gone, the believers would get a double benefit. Christ would be at God’s right hand as their advocate (a good person to have on your side) and the Holy Spirit would be here for their help. Plus, one of the main jobs of the Holy Spirit is to help us understand God’s Word.
Now, be honest for a minute. If you are like me, you disagree with Jesus on this point. Perhaps not openly, but in your heart of hearts, you really think it would be a lot better if he was around. Come one…you can admit it. You think that he’d be great to have around – if for no other reason than just to be able to ask questions to. “What is heaven like?” “Why does evil exist” “Who shot JFK?” –the standard stuff.
Well, I have got some news for you. If Jesus was here, guess what he would be talking about?
He would be talking about His Word – The Bible – The Scriptures.
Case in point: after the resurrection Jesus meets some old friends on a road. They don’t notice him, but he still gives them a theological schooling. What did the resurrected Christ say to his most loyal inside crowd? Did he explain some deep mysteries of the cosmos? Did he secretly reveal when the end of the world would come? Did he answer some unknowable question about science? Nope. According to Luke 24 “…beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
Did you catch that? The risen Christ used the Bible as his basis for explaining what had just happed in Jerusalem. Does that surprise you? It shouldn’t – He does the same thing today.
The Word of God is your flight instrument for life!
By it you survive. Without it, you will die.
On the night I launched into the night sky off the USS John Stennis my training saved my life. However, each day, millions of Christians are launched into the world without even the most basic training in the Scriptures. Will they survive when faced with a crisis? Will you? Let’s be honest…there comes a time when praying doesn’t help anymore. If you are ignorant of the Word of God, your best prayers won’t save you from making one foolish, destructive decision after another.
If this is you, you need for training in the Word of God. And there is no better time to start than right now. So, do this:
Who knows, your training just might save your life someday?
|
|
Copyright © 2006. Mach 1 Ministries. |
For
me, that first night landing started out on “Cat 1”. (The “cat” is
the catapult mechanism designed to get your 45,000 lb. airplane from
0 to 165 miles per hour in about 2 seconds. “Cat 1” is the farthest
right of the 4 catapults aboard a Navy carrier.) There I sat on
“Cat 1” with my knees shaking for what seemed like hours while
waiting for the ground crew to complete their final checks on my
aircraft. When all the checks were complete, I ran the throttles to
maximum power and gave a salute to a man I didn’t know – but who
nonetheless held my life in the balance. Within seconds, that same
man pushed a small green button that sent me propelling into the
cloudy darkness off the San Diego coast. My adventure was about to
begin.