The Baptized Plane

“Sully” is one of my favorite movies. It recounts USAirways flight 1549 that ditched into New York’s Hudson River January 2009 after colliding with a flock of Canada geese that essentially destroyed both jet engines and rendered the Airbus A320 powerless.

If you can watch that movie and not be moved, then you just aren’t movable. The calm and courage that avoided catastrophe and kept 155 souls alive clearly demonstrate the confluence of God-given abilities coupled with a compassion for the preservation of life, specifically, others’ lives.

Having lost my job on a Thursday due to layoffs, my head and heart were not in the best of places when I watched that movie just a week later. I had determined not to get depressed and bitter about losing my job. I refused the teeth-grinding temptation of vengeance, too. Nonetheless, despite the success in avoiding negativity, I was not able to dodge it all.

Captain Sullenberger hoped for the best and calculated for it when he realized that a water landing was imminent. And although a multi-million dollar plane was destroyed, Sully’s career remained intact. He became an American hero.

As I walked with Sully through the movie and flew on his fated flight, despair transformed into hope.

Comparing my situation to Sully’s, I realized that the sudden loss of my job meant uncertainty lie ahead. Throughout the week I had been reading Bible verses about God’s promises of provision but was realizing only a little bounce of encouragement. And frequent were the rude awakenings of despair in the wee morning hours — when all is too quiet and too dark.

These thoughts ran through my head as the movie credits rolled. More tears slipped down my face as I watched the actual reunion video of the crew and passengers. Peace and hope welled up inside me till I thought I’d burst. Joy!

In those moments, I realized that one part of my career had crashed. But all was not lost. Accomplishments for the Kingdom of God all remained intact. The blessings of six years’ service in my job were still mine. And I have every reason to believe that, though I’ve landed unexpectedly in a difficult place, God plans to rescue me. He had that settled long before that Thursday.

Norm Miller can be contacted at [email protected]