Letters From Grandpa #429

LETTERS FROM GRANDPA

• 429

Dearest grandchild,

Todays letter will be about self examination. Please consider: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test.” (2 Cor. 13:5)

On October 30, 1935 at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, Major Peter Hill pushed all four throttles forward on the prototype of the famous B 17 Flying Fortress. A few minutes later he was dead and the plane was in flames. The accident was the result of human error. As the airplane was parked outside, a gust lock was installed to secure the control surfaces and keep them from flapping in the wind. Major Hill had forgotten to remove the gust lock and thus had no way to control the airplane. This tragedy initiated the use of a preflight check list that is now an integral part of pilot training. Pre landing checklists are also important. In fact there are an average 60 gear up landings every year. Sadly, the landing gears were in perfect operating condition until the crash. The pilot simply forgot to activate the lever and lower them.

It is bad enough to kill yourself because of carelessness, but when eternity is at stake the importance of diligence is compounded. So a “pre-death” check list includes self examination!

We live in difficult times. Please consider this quote from the Overlake Christian Bookstore: “We have taller buildings but shorter tempers; wider freeways but narrower viewpoints; we spend more but have less; we buy more but enjoy it less; we have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, yet less time; we have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge but less judgment; more experts, yet more problems; we have more gadgets but less satisfaction; more medicine, yet less wellness; we take more vitamins but see fewer results. We drink too much; smoke too much; spend too recklessly; laugh too little; drive too fast; get too angry; stay up too late; get up too tired; read too seldom; watch TV too much and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values; we fly in faster planes to arrive there quicker, to do less and return sooner; we sign more contracts only to realize fewer profits; we talk too much; love too seldom and lie too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things; we've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice; we write more, but learn less; plan more, but accomplish less; we make faster planes, but longer lines; we learned to rush, but not to wait; we have more weapons, but less peace; higher incomes, but lower morals; more parties, but less fun; more food, but less appeasement; more acquaintances, but fewer friends; more effort, but less success. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; drive smaller cars that have bigger problems; build larger factories that produce less. We've become long on quantity, but short on quality. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, but short character; steep in profits, but shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure and less fun; higher postage, but slower mail; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are the days of two incomes, but more divorces; these quick trips, disposable diapers, cartridge living, throw-away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies and pills that do everything from cheer, to prevent, quiet or kill. It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stock room.”

These insights seem to confirm that we are in the “last days”. “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Tim. 3:1-5)

Pilot’s tell this joke: “How do you know that you have landed your airplane with the gear up?” Answer: “It takes full power to taxi”.

Dying without preparing to meet God, however, isn’t funny! So please, use a check list and: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test.”

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce