I am reading a book called “Survive.” It’s the story of three men, who went flying in an airplane and crashed in the Sierra Nevadas of California. The story is the first person account from the pilot. WIth 16 broken bones, including a shattered ankle, he spends 13 days going for help. His survival mode amazes me. He burrows under a blanket of bark, pine needles and branches at night and breathes into his jacket to keep his body temperature warm. During the day, he endures snow up to his neck at some points, boulders, scaling some mountains, basking in hot springs, nearly getting rescued, and finally getting rescued. Even though this story only mentions God a few times – basically, the pilot and his family praying for his safe return, I see some Christian themes. The pilot uses a rock for his pillow. As he tries to make decisions about how to survive, what route to take to find help, etc., he sometimes talks out loud. He receives responses, telling himself what to do, but it’s almost like God is giving him guidance, even though he may not realize it. At the start of his trek for help, he sees a very bright star in the sky, but never figures out what it is. He uses it as a guide and even talks to it. I got the feeling it was an angel.
I see in this story how perseverance, even in brokenness, allows us to survive. The decisions we make can result in life or death. The pilot tells himself, “You make a mistake, you die.” The analogy here, to me, is that if we keep persevering, even in our brokenness, we survive. If we make the mistake of not following Christ, we die. Survive!
