Failure to Land

There is a phrase out there in popular culture called “failure to launch.” I suppose the stereotype would be the son who graduates from college, but lives at home, unable or unwilling to begin a career and form meaningful (family) relationships. But this story is not about “failure to launch.” It is about “failure to land.” 

Richard Russell, 29, a member fo the ground crew at Sea-Tac airport, without formal flying lessons, learned enough online to take a commercial plane for an unauthorized spin. He had studied to learn how to take off and to do some rather elaborate maneuvers given the size of the plane. It became clear in conversation with air traffic controllers that he was not prepared to land the plane safely, nor did he intend to. This was to be his only flight.

It’s a heartbreaking story, especially since he refers to himself as “just a broken guy.” But it strikes me that his flight is not all that much different from that lived by men and women all over the world. We learn how to engage in this flight called “life,” and perhaps to undertake some rather interesting projects, but as we approach the end, we have to admit that we have made no preparations whatsoever to land this thing. It’s a two-part story: live large; then, crash and burn.

We find such a man in Jesus’ parable of “the rich man and Lazarus” (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man lived large, until the end. And then he “failed to land.” He finds himself confined to Hades, in torment, and is informed that the preparations for avoiding that end should have been made before, not after the point of his passing.

There are a million books on “how to live well.” Not so many on “how to die well.” But there is a good one, called the Bible, and a Person, a Guide, Jesus, who, having died and rose again, never to die again, can prepare us through “the landing” so as to make sure that this flight is not your last; that this is not all there is; and that you are prepared to live and enjoy not only this brief life, but also life that is eternal.

The news report concludes with this line: “The flight lasted about 75 minutes before the plane crashed into the tiny Ketron Island, southwest of Tacoma, ..” And so many other “life stories may similarly read, “This life last about 75 years, before he/she crashed ..” due to “failure to land.”