Catch of the Day

"Somebody in back…" by John Fischer

The following exchange took place in a CBS interview Katie Couric conducted recently with the crew members of US Airways Flight 1549 that went down January 16 in the Hudson River with all passengers remarkably surviving.

"Did you, at any point, pray?" Ms. Couric asked the pilot, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger.

"I would imagine somebody in back was taking care of that for me while I was flying the airplane," he replied.

It was a loaded question, and a stellar answer. The man had literally seconds to make a decision where to land the plane, gliding 77 tons of metal, jet fuel and precious human cargo into a perfect water landing that did not break the plane into bits and pieces. "Let's bow our heads for a few moments of silent prayer" was probably not on his agenda at the moment. But "somebody in back" was most likely taking care of that for him.

Prayer is vital to a Christian's life. Prayer is our link to the eternal and an act based solely on our faith in an unseen God. It's probably something we could all use more of in both cases of our own prayer experience with God, and the support of others praying for us. But sometimes, you've got to just concentrate on landing the plane and count on the fact that somebody in back is praying.

Often, these days, I feel like I'm trying to keep my plane from crashing, and although it's not like I don't have time to pray, it's nonetheless comforting to know that somebody in back is.

In truth, I think we need to be in both of these positions at the same time. We need someone in back praying for us, and we need to be that someone for someone else.

And remember, as important as prayer is, sometimes you just have to land the plane.