How PIlots Care

 Being a pastor of a church brings with it certain expectations. You oversee a family of sorts – people who share common interests and beliefs, who are there for each other and care about what happens in each other’s lives. I am honored to be a part of a church family that not only offers such great caring, but also goes to great lengths to extend that care beyond the walls of our church family to the lives of people on our community.

As a pilot, much of the same sentiment exists. Airplane people function as a community and look out for one another.  You do not even have to know each other. The fact that you are a pilot brings you “into the fold”. Today, July 25, 2012 was an extraordinary day for me.  It was a day when I was the first hand recipient of such caring.

It was a beautiful sunny day. The radar indicated no storms or inclement weather. I know this because I was rather frustrated at having to spend the day cooped up behind a desk and at several intervals I looked at the weather service to see what the weekend would hold in anticipation of a day at the beach.

Things changed rapidly. As I was at my desk, a huge flash and a crack of thunder occurred out of nowhere.  I tapped the app on my phone to discover radar that was completely clear except for a bright red indicator over Fort Stewart, Georgia. I counted it as nothing and continued my work until moments later I received a call from the manager of the Fixed Based Operations at Mid-Coast Regional Airport where I keep my plane. 

“Tim” stated Charlie, “there has been an incident out here." 

"A tornado or something just came through the airport. It ripped your plane from the tie-downs and sent it airborne. Your plane flew a moment then crashed into the ground. You better come out here.”

I sat there in disbelief. The sun was still shining. This had to be a joke. But it was real. I got to the airport to find chaos. Trees were ripped apart. All of the planes had been twisted in their moorings. Some of them appeared to have suffered damage to their landing gear. Then there was mine – nose to the ground, tail in the air.  My sturdy, reliable PA-28 was bowing forward as if to offer to me a formal hello.

The two hours that followed were hectic. The plane was not in a safe place.  It was untied and sitting near the fuel station. It was also in proximity to other aircraft where left alone the wind could pick it up and send it crashing into another plane. We did not want to move it out of concern that the insurance company would need an adjuster to survey the situation. At 5:30 p.m., I called AOPA.  At 5:45 p.m. an adjuster called me. He was very reassuring.  He gave me instructions on photographing the site and gave me the option of moving the plane or for him to send a recovery team to move it for me.

I opted to move it myself and returned to the airport to figure out how to do that. When I arrived, there were a host of pilots standing around my plane. They all offered their concern and asked if I was okay. No one said, “I know how you feel.” No one said, “At least you weren’t in there,” or “you have your health.” Those things were obvious and yes I am grateful. On a scale of life, the loss of an object does not measure up to the loss of life. Things can be replaced.  But I think you would almost have to be a pilot to understand the pain I was feeling in that moment. They did. They instinctively knew that I did not need to hear those things in that moment.

They also worked in concert to formulate a plan and devise a way to move the plane in a manner that would not cause further damage. My friend Charlie called and cancelled his evening engagement to stay and help solve the problem. Another, perhaps 25 years my senior, insisted on crawling under the wing with me and together, we lifted the plane with our backs to place a wheeled dolly under the broken main gear.

Another pilot, who is a new friend and an A&P (airframe and power plant) mechanic talked to me and to others over the phone as to how to move the plane safely. He then had the FBO manager open his hanger and produce the tools necessary to facilitate the move. He also offered to me several scenarios surrounding whether or not my plane would be a total write off or repairable and thought he was enroute to Texas, assured me that before the weekend was over, he would survey the place with me to see if it was salvageable. He has already located a donor aircraft to scrounge for parts in the event that the frame on my plane is salvageable.

Dr. Larry Brandenburg, an old and dear friend and mentor stopped what he was doing to talk me through the process and encourage me. He joked with me over the phone and let me know it was going to be okay. He reminded me that it wasn’t “just a plane”. It was my first – a faithful friend that had been the one to lift me off the ground and experience a freedom others never understand. A friend in whom I had placed the trust of my life, to lift me up and bring me safely back to the earth. He said it is appropriate to mourn, because while it was made of metal, fabric and wires, it was not a mere inanimate object, but a part of me. It was a representation of that first taste of freedom.  He said, “Timmy, I am over eighty years old. I have flown for more than sixty-five years. I still remember my first one.”

This day should have been terrible – and it was.  Still in the middle of all the chaos the day wasn’t so terrible. Those men surrounded me as if it were a part of the daily process and carried me through the moment. It is how pilots care.

I left that moment to return straight to my pulpit for a Wednesday night service already in progress. I thanked my congregation for having the same fortitude in demonstrating care toward others and challenged them to consider the value of their actions on an even greater level. I also offered this thought which I now offer to you: “ If we could show that same love and concern for others – if we could lay aside our agenda just for a moment when we see someone in need – how much better could we make our world? What kind of difference would we make in the lives of others? Think about the difference you can make today. 

The "Greater Than" Life

In elementary school Mathematics, one of the topics that is taught is values.  It is taught with the use of two mathematical symbols:  ">" and "<".  ">" is the symbol which means, "greater than".  "<" is the symbol which means "less than". 

For example: 16 > 8 is stated: 16 is greater than 8.  7 < 12 is stated: 7 is less than 12.

Values are a part of our everyday existence.  They are what drive the different aspects of our day.  Each and every activity of our life carries with it a specific value.  It is what decides how man prioritizes his life.

It is sadly humorous that if you poll average people about what is important to them, they will almost always offer you a list of things which are supposedly significant to their lives.  They will offer a list that ranges from health and weight loss or control, to financial security, to strong family and spiritual relationships.  Yet for the average person's ability to offer these things as the most important - they generally prove to be the least important aspects of their life.

It has become very easy complain about one's weight or physical condition only to, moments later, order the greasiest, most fattening thing available to put into one's mouth.  It is very common to determine that one needs more time with his family, only to go home and spend three or four hours mindlessly watching television.  Many talk about the concern they have for their financial future, only to pull out the credit card or refinance papers on their home to purchase the next thing they "have to have" for their lives.

God's people need to rediscover the "greater than - less than” principle.  We are, by God's design, incredibly inventive creatures.  I can remember having a discussion - almost an argument with my teacher over "greater than - less than" in math.  In one assignment, I determined that 7 > 12. She marked the problem incorrect.  By her way of thinking (and the math book's), seven is not greater than 12. 7 is less than 12.  However, my argument was that 7 was my favorite number.  It was the number that God made as completion (Sunday School at work) and therefore was the GREATEST of all numbers.  I suppose it is all in how you define it.

That is precisely how we look at life.  We have one set of values (like the math) which operates on facts and data.  We have another set of values which are purely subjective based on our immediate desires and whims.  Is 7 really the greatest number?  Is it of greater value than 5, which is the number of grace?  Or, perhaps 3, which is the number of the Trinity?  Where would we be without good old number 8, the number of new beginning.  

Many quote true realistic values as if they were priorities.  However, they live by the things which are of real importance to their desires; things which promote immediate pleasure, even at the cost of sacrificing the true priorities.

You need to develop a true grasp of what is really greater.   

Immediate gratification always costs more - and always increases the desire for more immediate gratification.   

If you can learn what is truly greater - if you can master the Master's value system, then you will have accomplished a great thing. You will have positioned yourself to truly succeed.

A life whose values are based on the emotions and desires of the moment ultimately becomes an empty life.  King Solomon proved that.  A life which is measured by the things that truly matter is a life of great worth.  God created a value system.  He defined it in His word.  He created you with the inventive ability to capitalize on that value system.  If you do, you will prosper from the soul out.

Start communicating a desire for good health and a firm, fit body.  Then, quit stuffing that body full of things which render it nearly impossible to obtain that good health.  Make the statement over your life that being debt free is "greater than". Then, quit pulling out the credit card because you need that new gadget or item.  Stop spending money which could be used to eliminate debt to buy the next thing in the attempt to alleviate the pain of lack.  These always prove to be the most costly of medicines.

Learn the difference between what is "greater than" and what is "less than".  Let the litmus test for it be the fruit which is produced over time, not by the moment.  If you do, you will find yourself living a "Greater Than" Life.