The Gift of Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer

Our son, on the right during a military exercise before becoming an officer. 

Positive Pensées

 

Kathy King

The Gift of a Wing and a Prayer

 

"What wings are to a bird and sails to a ship, so is prayer to the soul."

Corrie Ten Boom

 

A wing and a prayer, such an interesting thought to ponder.

Wings that need lift to keep on flying.

What happens when one wing is damaged?

Do we stay level or plunge when we are indeed impaired?

Do we throw up our hands and throw in the towel?

Or do we stop, take a moment and pray to pull on our soular power.

A small prayer, a break, a big deep breath, can give us the stamina to push on and stay in the air. 

When life hands you a full plate of calamity, focus on the wing and a prayer. 

Stay in the air, continue to pray, and make it your priority to stay in focus.

Even if things go a little slower or the situation does not change as fast as you would like. 

Keep on praying and keeping your eyes gazing straight ahead, towards the light. 

 

Do you sometimes feel like you live your life on a wing and a prayer? With one engine gone and the other engine barely hanging on? The song from the 1940’s Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer was just about that situation.  During World War II there were many missions where the Allies flew over Europe in bombers.  A lot of these brave souls never returned. They gave their lives for the cause of freedom.  This particular song was about a mission that was flown in Europe.  The pilots and crew made their target, but one of their engines was damaged and not working. The pilots bravely asked the men to say a prayer that they would land in England. Hence, they came in on a wing and a prayer. If you have never heard the song, please take a moment to listen. I know that the era of the 1940s had significant issues, but the music of that time was so very uplifting and had real meaning. There are times when I wish we could glean a few life lessons from that time. Particularly the importance of prayer. In the book Anne of Green Gables, Anne thought that her best prayer would be to go out into an open field, look to the sky, and feel a prayer. Others find solace in the age old practice of getting on their knees and just talking to God. In a time when everything is so frenzied. Stopping, being quiet, and refilling your tank will make the biggest difference. Some folks say that a wing and a prayer is an almost impossible situation. Yes, it could be. But, those pilots did not give up when their plane was struggling to stay in the air. They looked to the horizon and saw their landing field straight ahead. They kept going. So much of life takes a short view of things, we focus on the here and now. What if we took a long view on some life situations? Yes, there may be a struggle with how the situation is coming to fruition, but, if we can look ahead, down the road In the true long view, can we see that we can indeed make it? Recently, one of our sons graduated from college and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army. What a proud moment for my husband and myself.  My oldest son was his first salute (he is enlisted) and one of my husband’s oldest friend’s gave the oath of Enlistment to our son.  In our celebration after the ceremony, my son looked at me and my husband and thanked me for telling him to take the long view. You see, on more than one occasion, particularly during his junior and senior years of college, he had to complete pre-camp and advanced camp. Each morning, he had to wake up and ruck for many, many miles.  He ran, did squats, and did navigation training exercises, among other activities. He was only supposed to have to do pre-camp once but we had the world wide bug come into existence. He was forced to repeat pre-camp with all the 12 mile rucks and various other army activities again.  At his lowest, we told him, "Can you see the end result on the horizon?" It was hard, but he did. His senior year, he completed advanced camp. It was about 12 weeks of Army training. I asked him how many times he had rucked 12 miles in full military gear.  He said, "Mom, I have lost count." Today, he reaps the rewards of not giving up. He came in on a wing and a prayer. I leave you all with a verse from Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer. "What a show, what a fight Boys, we really hit our target for tonight. How we sing as we limp through the air. Look below, there's our field over there. With our one motor gone. We can still carry on. Comin' in on a wing and a prayer." Let’s look to the horizon!  Let’s pray and reflect and keep up the good fight! 

 

Source: "Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer" Jimmy McHugh