Miracle on the Hudson?
I received this image in one of the corny forwarded Christian emails my father-in-law sends me.
I’ve been hearing about “The Miracle on the Hudson” like it is an appropriate news headline. What are the exact requirements to be deemed a miracle from God? Typically the term “miracle” is used to describe amazing phenomena that there is no logical explanation. This event was amazing, but easily explainable.
- The crew was highly trained to handle this emergency.
- The pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, is an airline safety expert who has consulted with NASA and others.
- Sullenberger is described by his wife as the consummate pilot who performs the airplane to the exact precision to which it is made.
- Sullenberger has 40 years of experience.
Miracle? Why does God only only get credit for the safe landing and not for the bird that caused the plane to go down? Maybe the devil did that.
One passenger stated, “Gotta give it to the pilot man, he did a helluva job.”
I agree.
Tags: Airplane, Miracle on the Hudson, Pilot, Sullenberger
January 30, 2009 at 1:35 pm |
I found it interesting that when Sullenberger spoke at his hometown welcoming he said the following:
“Circumstance determined that it was this experienced crew that was scheduled to fly that particular flight on that particular day…. And I know I can speak for the entire crew when I tell you we were simply doing the jobs we were trained to do.”
Strangely missing was any mention of god or miracles or any divine intervention. Plain and simple, this was a case where preparation met circumstance.
January 30, 2009 at 1:46 pm |
Brian–
It’s nice to see this pilot was willing to take credit for a job well done.
I spent most of my life giving god credit for everything I ever achieved. If god landed this plane, why do we even need trained pilots? “Miracle” is a drastically overused word.
February 13, 2009 at 3:18 pm |
[...] Why does God only get credit for good things? Good question. By theBEattitude As a follow up to my first post on this blog I have to again ask the question: Why does god only get credit for good things? [...]
May 29, 2009 at 2:01 pm |
I dunno. I think God gets blamed for bad things in the world just as much as credit for good things.
September 23, 2009 at 11:27 am |
Don’t know.
December 25, 2009 at 7:14 pm |
Divine intervention doesn’t happen because, like the picture suggests, God’s hands were literally holding the plane. That’s not the point of the thing though. Think why was Mr. Sullenberger captain of that plane, and not almost anyone else? No one who says that it’s a miracle is saying that Sully didn’t do an amazing job. He did, and he is getting rewarded handsomely for it now, as he deserves. The man is a hero who “did a helluva job.” But perhaps God’s hand was in something more basic, like putting him on the flight that day for example. A lot had to come together in order to get Sully on that plane in order to save that flight. People do see the hand of God is the mundane, what is seemingly the usual. Not taking anything away from Sully, but once in a while it’s not wrong to give God credit for something God in the world. I know many people who do actually criticize God for the bad; I know many people who have actually given God blame for deaths, etc and suffered a crisis of faith for doing so. And if something bad happens, it’s the atheists and the like who claim “Where was God in this?! No where to be found!” Truth is, people do believe that the hand of God plays a role in people’s lives. Hard to believe, huh? Merry Christmas, sir.