Christian Living

---

Larry Lilly's Letter Tuesday February 17, 2009

As many Americans I have been captured by the calm, cool and collected airmanship of Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger the Captain of the Miracle on the Hudson. The nearest I ever came to such a grand water landing was not on the Hudson, but in a concrete building in a Flight Safety Simulator in Wichita and that in a much smaller Super King Air 200. Even in a simulator I was happy to walk away.

Every man and woman who is the least bit interested in rising above the ordinary can learn, not only life saving courage from Captain Sully's professionalism under fire, but also the attitude that always accompanies such grace.

Two of Sully's statements caught my attention and how different so many lives will be when the attitude driving these words are inculcated into daily living. On the approach to the Hudson, which thankfully was not final, Sully had this to say:

"The physiological reaction I had to this was strong, and I had to force myself to use my training and force calm on the situation."

"Poise" I am told is the ability to perform properly under pressure and that’s where prior training comes in. Had Captain Chesley Sullenberger fudged on recurrent training exercises required every six months for serious pilots, the Hudson River "miracle" would read like any other airline tragedy. As Lombardi said, "Perfect practice makes perfect." To that end I enjoyed the blessings of modern simulators.

Statement two by Captain Sullenberger is a quote given to me by Terre Haute's resident version of Andy Rooney, Ron Marsh:

"Over the years, I made many deposits into my accounts of knowledge and experience. Because of those many deposits, I was able to make a substantial withdrawal on January 15, 2009."

Some of the deposits the captain refers to are recurrent training and knowledge of the airplane, ie, glide ratio, stall speeds, engine out procedures and minimum safe water landing speed and attitude, attitude for the plane and the pilot.

The point of Sully's second statement is simple, if you make no deposit, there will not be anything to withdraw. If Sully had turned to the first officer and said, "Find the glide ratio for this thing," for all practical purposes the story would have been over at that point.

David, Israel's great king concerning the basics of a Godly life stated:

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119:11

David's formula is more instructive than first glance might imply for many a crashed life is the result of failing to stay up to snuff on the basics. Muse on it for a while, your spiritual "Hudson" experience may be closer than you think.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2009 Use with Credit.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE