Letters From Grandpa #281

LETTERS FROM GRANDPA

• 281

Dearest grandchild,

Today’s letter will deal with Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death”.

Unfortunately we live at a time when many are convinced that how you “feel” is more important than “truth”. Take, for example, “gender dysphoria”. This condition was once known as “gender identity disorder” but the word “disorder” was removed because it is now considered “normal” for a boy to think he is a girl, and vice versa. If you were born a boy but “feel” like you are a girl, your feelings trump reality. Consequently, society is now being bullied and coerced to ignore the truth and refer to someone by the way they “feel” rather than the way they “are”. Remember Yogi Berra’s famous joke: “There were naked people running all over the field, but I couldn’t tell whether they were men or women because they had sacks over their heads”. Sadly, this isn’t funny to many any more.

Perhaps aviation is the most brutal way to demonstrate how irrelevant your feelings are. In a previous letter we reminded you that on July 16, 1999 J. F. Kennedy Jr. died with his wife and sister-in- law in a plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Our own beloved Mike Pratt and two companions also died in a plane crash Dec. 24, 1974 a few miles north of Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. The “killer” in both instances was “spatial disorientation”. This condition is the inability to determine one's position, location, and motion relative to the environment by the way you “feel”. Flying by your feelings can be a fatal problem for pilots. An airplane spinning to earth doesn’t care how you “feel”.

While reflecting on this subject I was reminded of a movie I saw over 40 years ago. It was part of a series of science films produced by the Moody Bible Institute. I was delighted to discover that the whole series is now available via YouTube. These videos are of special value for home schoolers or anyone who wants to teach scientific truth. If you are interested, google Moody Science Videos – YouTube.

I CANNOT EMPHASIZE TOO STRONGLY MY PERSONAL PRAYER THAT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU WILL TAKE THE TIME TO CHECK OUT THESE VIDEOS!!!!!!!

The video I remembered was titled “Signposts Aloft”. It is an excellent presentation proving that it is impossible to safely fly an airplane in the clouds based on how you “feel”. They proved this in a variety of ways, including a demonstration in a Barany Chair. A man who was experienced in doing acrobatics on a trampoline, was blind folded and placed on a Barany chair. After spinning several revolutions in the same direction his inner ear caused him to “feel” he had stopped. He hadn’t! When the chair was stopped his inner ear caused him to “feel” that he was turning rapidly in the opposite direction. He wasn’t! They also presented dramatic tape recordings of disoriented pilots moments before impact and death. While it is impossible to fly in the clouds by how you “feel”, it is perfectly safe to do so when you believe and obey your instruments. The mantra of flight instructors to every student is to forget how you “feel” and believe your instruments. Near the end of the video is a dramatic documentary about the loss of a B-24 bomber and crew on April 4, 1943.

The bomber in question was called “Lady Be Good”. It was part of the 376th bomber group based in Benghazi. Libya. It was lost on it’s first combat mission in a bombing raid over Naples, Italy. It never returned to Benghazi. No one knew what happened to it for many years. On Nov. 9, 1958 it was discovered by accident in the Libyan desert by an exploration team from British Petroleum. It was over 400 miles south of Benghazi. Although the plane was broken into two pieces, it was

immaculately preserved. The machine guns, and radio still worked and the supplies of food and water were intact. A thermos of tea was found to be drinkable. No human remains were found on board the aircraft or in the area. The absence of parachutes indicated that the crew had bailed out. A formal search for the bodies began on Feb. 11, 1960. Eventually bodies of 8 of the 9 crew members were found. The Moody Science team presents a convincing scenario of what happened.

In the 1930s and 40s a primary navigational device was known as the Automatic Direction Finder (ADF). This is a low frequency radio with a loop antenna. Pilots call it the “Bird Dog” for when properly tuned the needle always points directly to the station. Moody’s investigators surmised that on their return flight from Naples the doomed airplane experienced a violent and unexpected tail wind. This meant that they arrived at Benghazi much sooner than expected. When the needle on the ADF reversed, indicating station passage, they mistakenly assumed that the radio had malfunctioned, or perhaps a German submarine was sending out a false signal. At any rate, they didn’t believe their radio and continued flying until they ran out of gas. The crew then bailed out and subsequently died in the desert.

Ironically, even after all these years, the ADF radio still works. If only they had believed their instruments they could have easily found their destination, landed safely, and avoided the disaster that followed.

The application to you and me is obvious! Jesus prayed “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). Jesus wanted His disciples to go by the “Word of God” and not by their “feelings”. In the final analysis, it is wise to believe that God is true, and every man is a liar (Rom. 3:4). One truth from the Bible that everyone ought to consider is our text from the book of Proverbs: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death”.

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce