Who Packs Your Parachute?

I have enjoyed what I’ve read thus far of Scot McKnight’s book, but I cannot get one nagging thought out of my head: while our world continues to wage religious wars, why doesn’t knowing we all worship the same God - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob – help us to simply ‘love God and others’? Jesus is all right for me, but He is definitely not okay for many others. If God is the foundation, the core from where all love begins, then I feel more comfortable focusing on God. And I know I am not supposed to always feel ‘comfortable’, and so therein lies my struggle.

Having gotten that off my chest, I want to share a version of an email that I feel encompasses an act of ‘loving God, loving others’ and helps remind me that all of our daily actions, conscious and unconscious, affect those around us.

“Plumb was a US Navy pilot in Vietnam when his plane was shot down and he ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnam prison. He survived.”

“While in a restaurant one day, a man recognized him and approached him repeating his experience. Plumb said, “How in the world do you know that?””

“I packed your parachute!” the man responded.

“Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, “I guess it worked!” “It sure did. If your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today,” Plumb replied.

“Plumb couldn’t sleep that night thinking about this man. He kept wondering what he looked like in Navy uniform. He wondered how many times he might have seen him and not even said, “Good morning” or anything because, you see, Plumb was a fighter pilot and the man was just a sailor.”

“Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor spent in the bowels of the ship at a long wooden table, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands the fate of someone he didn’t know.”

“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 or just do something nice for someone for no reason. As you go through this week, the month, this year, recognize who packs your parachute.”

Julie Small