What the Captain does
Sully, a movie depicting the story behind the 2009 landingof US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River showed up on a streaming servicethis month. I’d long been aware of the heroism of Captain Chelsey “Sully”Sullenberger and what is called “the miracle on the Hudson,” but I’m a nervousflier and seeing plane emergencies on film get me going. I’m late to the table,but finally my desire to see the film outweighed my apprehension.
Idid spend a good bit of time squirming during the movie, but there were so manypowerful scenes to distract me from my flying anxiety. Much has been writtenabout the heroism of Captain Sully, the flight crew, and the rescuers, as well as how the passengers responded to the emergency. I’ll just focus on one scene.
Afterthe landing in the Hudson and passengers had deboarded onto the wings and inflatablerafts awaiting rescue, Captain Sullenberger was still on the plane searching,checking every seat. With the thirty-six-degree water rising waist deep, theplane going down, and the flight crew yelling for him to exit, he still checkedmaking sure as best he could that no one was left behind.
Thecrew became insistent that he leave, so he grabbed what I imagine was the flightlog and gave one more glance back to thecabin. Then he slid down the slide.
Ittook hours to know what the actual passenger count was. One person had tried toswim to shore, one had tripped into the water, and both were rescued. But whoknew if there were others who slipped away undetected.
Hourslater, when the final count came in—155, the relief on the Captain’s face, played brilliantly by TomHanks, was apparent. Miraculously, all under his care were accounted for.
In Dorothea Day’s poem, “My Captain,” a response to "Invictus,” she writes,“Christ is the Captain of my soul.”
The one scene of Captain Sullenberger wading through hypothermia inducingwaters, refusing to leave until he thought all the passengers were safe brings tears to my eyes. And it brings comfort to mysoul because I know that in an exponential way, God has done and is doing that.When the chilly water is rising and it appears the ship is going down, ourCaptain is still searching for those left behind. “For the Son of Man came toseek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus didn’t try to save himselffirst, He gave everything to save us. It’s a message worth telling as long aswe have breath in our bodies.
Even after we give our lives to Him, we may face times when we feel alittle lost, not knowing what the future holds, or which way we should go. But ourCaptain is on duty, never forgetting about us, never leaving us. Hebrews 13:5reads, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
If you watch the movie, let it roll during the credits at the end, becausethere’s a real-life scene of Captain Sullenberger with a reunion of thepassengers. So heartwarming. And folks, one day, we’ll have a grand reunion,too, with all those whom the Captain of our souls has rescued.
var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-24260977-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();Beverly Varnado is the author of several small town romances from Anaiah Press including her latest, A Season for Everything. All are available at Amazon. Her memoir, Faith in the Fashion District, from Crosslink Publishing is available wherever fine books are sold. Also consider her other books, Give My Love to the Chestnut Trees and Home to Currahee.To explore the web version of One Ringing Bell, please visit bev-oneringingbell.blogspot.com Beverly Varnado copyright 2021
