Never Believe That It Can't Be Done!

On February 24, 1989 at 16 minutes after takeoff, United Airlines Flight #811 suffered a catastrophic incident when a cargo door blew off 22,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean, ripping the fuselage and tragically causing nine passengers to be ejected from the plane midflight.  Captain David Cronin used his 35 years of airline experience and training to return to the Honolulu airport and safely land the shattered Boeing 747 aircraft, saving all those still onboard.  As part of the accident debrief, a simulator test was performed 100 times to replicate the disaster but no one was ever able to safely land the plane as Captain Cronin had accomplished. When he was asked about his thoughts that day, his response was “I never believed it couldn’t be done.”

In later years while being interviewed for a book about the tragedy, he told the author, “"I just prayed and got on with it." This certainly sounds like a man whose faith and abilities were sorely tested and he and his crew rose to the occasion in spectacular fashion.

Scheduling our prayer time is not always an option. Sometimes our faith needs to be practiced on the fly while handling whatever emergencies have just presented themselves. Sometimes we just need to get on with it.  Our faith is not a static set of beliefs – it is a dynamic toolbox we need to access when the going gets tough wherever and whenever that might be.

Imagine not letting negative whispers tiptoe into your head in such a crisis situation.  “I never believed it couldn’t be done” should be our credo during our journey here on earth with Heaven as a goal.  Heaven cannot be a remote wish or a hope.  We need to access all the tools from the toolbox that we have been provided to bring us closer to our destination.  Armed with knowing we have created a strong prayer life, followed the Commandments and repented through the sacrament of Penance when we have strayed, joined Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, and meditated with our God during our earthly time, we too can confidently state “I never believed it couldn’t be done.”

Guilt can overwhelm us at times.  Instead of having a positive outlook in our faith, we may mistakenly over value what we have done wrong and undervalue what we are doing right. There are no guarantees and we should never be so bold as to assume that salvation is our right, regardless of our actions.  Yet, a purposeful attitude and doing the spiritual work necessary to reach our goal is a much better strategy than worrying so much that we end up distancing ourselves from our faith thinking that we will never be good enough. We should never let the devil dissuade us of our faith and abilities. God’s hope for each of us is that we will live with Him forever and he has provided us the road map to do so.  Let us all get on with it and do what we need to do to accomplish our goal of eternity in Heaven.  Never believe that it can’t be done!