Charles Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in =
Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a =
surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. =
He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese =
prison. He survived the ordeal and lectured on lessons learned =
from that experience.
One =
day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man from =
another table came up and said, "You’re Charles Plumb! You flew jet =
fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were =
shot down!"
"How in the world did you know that?" =
asked Plumb.
"I packed your parachute," the man =
replied.
Plumb gasped in surprise and =
gratitude.
The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it =
worked!"
Plumb =
assured him, "It sure did. If that chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t =
be here today."
Plumb =
couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man.
Plumb =
says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy =
uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I =
wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good =
morning, how are you?’ or anything because, you see, I was a fighter =
pilot and he was just a common 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, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone =
he didn’t know.
Now, =
Plumb asks his audience, "Who’s packing your parachute?" =
Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the =
day. Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss =
what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank =
you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to =
them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no =
reason.
Today I’d encourage you to stop and think, =
"Who’s packing MY parachute?" Then DO SOMETHING about =
it.
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] www.grif.net =
"Jesus Knows Me, This I =
Love!"