On Wednesday, January 20, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the Potomac River after striking a bridge in Washington, D.C (Rosenblatt, pars. 1-2). The following week Time carried an editorial by Roger Rosenblatt describing reaction to the crash. He writes,

But the person most responsible for the emotional impact of the disaster is the one known at first simply as “the man in the water.” (Balding, probably in his 50s, an extravagant mustache.) He was seen clinging with five other survivors to the tail section of the airplane. This man was described by Usher and Windsor [the park police helicopter team] as appearing alert and in control. Every time they lowered a lifeline and flotation ring to him, he passed it on to another of the passengers. “In a mass casualty, you’ll find people like him,” said Windsor. “But I’ve never seen one with that commitment.” When the helicopter came back for him, the man had gone under.   (Rosenblatt, par. 4)

In John 5, Jesus tells us “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (KJV, John 5.13). “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another” (KJV, John 5.16-17).

God wants us to be “the man in the water.” All around us, people are drowning. Some are drowning in sin, some, in doubt. Some are drowning in heartache, some in sickness, some in pain. Some are drowning in debt. Some are drowning in loneliness. So many are drowning, believing they are all alone in the water, trapped in the swells, desperate for help.

God calls on us to hold them up. We hold them up in prayer. We hold them up when we give them a shoulder to cry on. We hold them up when we lend a helping hand. We hold them up when we listen. We hold them up when all we can do is hold them.

And when we are drowning, we have the promise that the God of all comfort comforts us in all our troubles, holding us up, so we may comfort those we will find in the water by that same comfort we receive from Him (II Cor. 1.3-4).

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Rosenblatt, Roger. “The Man in the Water.” Time. 25 Jan. 1982. Time, Inc. 4 Feb. 2009 <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,925257,00.html>.

 © Bill Stifler, 2009