Let love
be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual
affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
We take so much for granted. St. Paul encourages us to love one another
and to outdo one another in showing honor. Great advice…but before we can show honor,
we’ll have to start paying attention to one another and the roles we play in each
other’s lives. This little story from the Internet helps make the point.
Charles Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in Viet Nam. After 75 combat
missions, his plane was destroyed by missiles. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy
hands. He was captured and spent six years in a prisoner-of-war camp. He survived and now
lectures on his experiences.
One day Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant. A man walked
up and said, "You’re Plumb. You flew jet fighters in Viet Nam from the carrier
Kitty Hawk. You were shot down."
"How in the world would you know that?" asked Plumb.
"I packed your parachute," the man replied. "I guess it
worked."
"It sure did," Plumb assured him. If your chute hadn’t
worked, I wouldn’t be here today."
Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about the man. "I
kept wondering," Plumb said, "what he would have looked like back then. I
wondered how many times I might have walked right by him on the ship and never even
acknowledged his presence. You see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."
Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden
table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of
each chute, every time holding in his hands the fate of someone he didn’t know.
All kinds of people pass through our lives, providing what we need to
make it through each day – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. We
don’t always recognize them. Sometimes we walk right by them in our self-absorption,
failing to say please, thank you, good job, or even hello. In so doing, we fail to show
them the honor due them as children of God.
So who’s packing your parachute? It might be time to say thank
you.
Dear God, we give thanks for all those whose service makes life
possible for us. They are to us the hands and hearts of Jesus. May we always recognize and
honor them. Without them, we can’t fly. Amen.
Editorial compilation
