Captain Brian Udell tells a tremendous story. He was a pilot in the Air Force who ejected from his fighter, which was speeding toward earth at 780 miles per hour. His instruments went bad on him during his night flight out over the Atlantic Ocean. It was a training mission and when he lost control of the aircraft, he ejected -- less than a second before the aircraft made impact with the water.
He survived the ejection, although sadly, his co-pilot was killed. Captain Udell now holds a world speed record for successful ejection from an aircraft. You can hear more about Captain Udell's story here.
I got a chance to listen to Captain Udell talk about his amazing ordeal at a business meeting recently. After ejecting, he was lost at sea. He was severely injured and it was really a miracle that a Coast Guard airplane spotted him and was able to facilitate his rescue.
I share this story with you because Captain Udell told the audience that he prayed while he was floating in the cold ocean water than night. He said he did not consider himself to be a particularly prayerful person, but that night, in that situation, he found meaning in his faith and he prayed. And God answered his prayers.
Sometimes it takes a life-threatening situation to make God meaningful in your work. But let's hope that's not true for most of us. Let's not wait until we are facing death before calling on God for help. He wants to help us all the time. Whatever you do for work -- whether that's flying an airplane or cooking meals or teaching or writing or anything else -- invite God along to your work.
Good editorial in the Catholic Spirit!
Posted by: Cathy_of_Alex | June 05, 2009 at 03:57 PM