If you’ve been keeping up with the news, you know about the tragic story of Air France 447 that was enroute to Paris from Rio de Janeiro. It is now acknowledged as Air France’s worst plane crash and the world’s worst commercial air accident since 2001. Two hundred and twenty-eight people perished last Sunday night.
Today, the crews began picking up some of the debris out of the Atlantic Ocean as Air France began notifying family members of those who were onboard that there was no chance of survivors as the airplane disintegrated either in the air or when it hit the ocean. While there is no clear indication of what happened, investigators are piecing together a timeline of events from the automated messages that the plane sent and it’s becoming clearer that the plane was brought down during some dangerous stormy weather. We may never know what happened to bring the plane down as the black boxes may ultimately be unrecoverable in the bottom of the very deep ocean.
This news for me sent a chill up my spine when I heard about it because I had friends who were flying home their honeymoon in the Bahamas on that very same night. They were delayed at the airport for a long time due to severe storms. They arrived home safely. The juxtaposition of these two events, however for me, gave me pause.
We really don’t know what’s going to happen today or tomorrow or the day after. As boring and ordinary life can be, it all can change suddenly without warning. No one goes around doing their everyday things thinking that this might be the day that things go wrong. That’s okay because it is the right and normal reaction. We shouldn’t be living in a state of constant fear of what might be around the corner. That would be a very unnatural and unhealthy way of living life because that “thing” that you fear might never even happen. However, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be aware of the very real possibility that we might be called to the next life suddenly and sooner than we’d anticipated. What we CAN do, though, is prepare ourselves for eternal life. While we can’t ensure what will happen next, we CAN ensure that we know exactly where we’re going in the next life.
That knowledge will keep us going and confident in any and everything we do in this life because we know that no matter what happens or when it happens, we’ll be going to a better place. This will help those who are left behind in their grief because “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5) since they know that we will all meet again some glorious morning.
May God comfort those who are hurting from this tragic event and comfort us by reminding us the assurance that we have of eternity through Christ the Lord. May we not withhold this gift, but share it freely and lavishly.
– Matt
Air France 447changeeternal lifepreparePsalmsudden
When All of a Sudden…
June 4, 2009
Calvary
Comments Off on When All of a Sudden…
Matt
If you’ve been keeping up with the news, you know about the tragic story of Air France 447 that was enroute to Paris from Rio de Janeiro. It is now acknowledged as Air France’s worst plane crash and the world’s worst commercial air accident since 2001. Two hundred and twenty-eight people perished last Sunday night.
Today, the crews began picking up some of the debris out of the Atlantic Ocean as Air France began notifying family members of those who were onboard that there was no chance of survivors as the airplane disintegrated either in the air or when it hit the ocean. While there is no clear indication of what happened, investigators are piecing together a timeline of events from the automated messages that the plane sent and it’s becoming clearer that the plane was brought down during some dangerous stormy weather. We may never know what happened to bring the plane down as the black boxes may ultimately be unrecoverable in the bottom of the very deep ocean.
This news for me sent a chill up my spine when I heard about it because I had friends who were flying home their honeymoon in the Bahamas on that very same night. They were delayed at the airport for a long time due to severe storms. They arrived home safely. The juxtaposition of these two events, however for me, gave me pause.
We really don’t know what’s going to happen today or tomorrow or the day after. As boring and ordinary life can be, it all can change suddenly without warning. No one goes around doing their everyday things thinking that this might be the day that things go wrong. That’s okay because it is the right and normal reaction. We shouldn’t be living in a state of constant fear of what might be around the corner. That would be a very unnatural and unhealthy way of living life because that “thing” that you fear might never even happen. However, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be aware of the very real possibility that we might be called to the next life suddenly and sooner than we’d anticipated. What we CAN do, though, is prepare ourselves for eternal life. While we can’t ensure what will happen next, we CAN ensure that we know exactly where we’re going in the next life.
That knowledge will keep us going and confident in any and everything we do in this life because we know that no matter what happens or when it happens, we’ll be going to a better place. This will help those who are left behind in their grief because “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5) since they know that we will all meet again some glorious morning.
May God comfort those who are hurting from this tragic event and comfort us by reminding us the assurance that we have of eternity through Christ the Lord. May we not withhold this gift, but share it freely and lavishly.
– Matt
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Air France 447changeeternal lifepreparePsalmsudden