Who Packed the Parachute.

Who Packed the Parachute.

Storm Day.

Life is never ever just plain sailing. Sooner or later we all have to face up to the hardships of life. No person is immune. it is in those moments that we are grateful for the kind word to the helping hand. The encouragement. But none of these things can be taken for granted so when things are going well we should be storing up for the days that are not so good.

 How easy it is to go through life, never thanking a person or just saying hello, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason at all.

 Let me explain that by telling you a true story.

Charles Plumb, and yes that was his name, was a 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 Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now is part of the lecture scene speaking of the lessons learned from his dreadful experience.

 One day, the he and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "Your 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 your chute hadn't worked I would not 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 sailor."

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on 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 I wonder who is packing my parachute?

 Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb

also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down
over enemy territory - he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety. His experience reminds us all to prepare ourselves to weather whatever storms lie ahead.

 As you go through this day, or for that matter the rest of this week, this month, this year... take note of the people who pack your parachute!

A kind word here, a little act of kindness a gesture. Doesn't cost much or take much but it just might be the parachute somebody needs at that moment.