Falling for you...
Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane if you didn't have to? I have studied the physics of aerodynamics. When an airfoil passes through a liquid (in this case air) lift is created perpendicular to the airfoil. This is how an airplane works. It is also how a sailboat works. This aerodynamic principle is also at work in propellers, fans, and wind turbines. Using this principle an object attached to an airfoil can gently glide to the ground. The same cannot be said about a brick.
When a brick is passed through the same liquid (again, air), no lift is created. In fact the brick falls and will continue to accelerate until critical velocity is reached. The brick stays at critical velocity until it plunges into the surface of the earth. Unless the brick is attached to a small fabric device known as a parachute. In theory, a properly attached and deployed parachute will prevent the brick from shattering into hundreds of pieces.
There is a whole lot riding on that little piece of fabric.
Which is why I have never gone skydiving. Everything that keeps someone from plunging into the earth is all bunched up in a backpack. I know that there are spare chutes and all, but you have to be really sure that the parachute was packed correctly. You'd want the best parachute packer there is because you would be trusting that person with your life.
Now I know there are many people in whom we entrust our lives. We pray the airplane pilot had enough sleep the night before. We pray the bus driver checked the tires on the bus. We pray the person driving beside us knows what to do when they have a tire blowout. I know that the odds of a parachute malfunction are slim... probably much smaller than a traffic accident, and yet I am still hesitant.
No human, no matter how skilled, is able to do everything perfectly. No matter who is at the wheel, we can never reduce all the risks in life. Danger exists all around us and it is a part of our fallen world.
I am reminded of Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”
The only one who will never fail us is God. He is the only one in whom we can always trust.
So, if God packs the parachute and flies the plane and jumps with me, I'll consider a skydiving jaunt. Anything short of that just doesn't seem logical or prudent.
Blessings,
Pastor David Hook
Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane if you didn't have to? I have studied the physics of aerodynamics. When an airfoil passes through a liquid (in this case air) lift is created perpendicular to the airfoil. This is how an airplane works. It is also how a sailboat works. This aerodynamic principle is also at work in propellers, fans, and wind turbines. Using this principle an object attached to an airfoil can gently glide to the ground. The same cannot be said about a brick.
When a brick is passed through the same liquid (again, air), no lift is created. In fact the brick falls and will continue to accelerate until critical velocity is reached. The brick stays at critical velocity until it plunges into the surface of the earth. Unless the brick is attached to a small fabric device known as a parachute. In theory, a properly attached and deployed parachute will prevent the brick from shattering into hundreds of pieces.
There is a whole lot riding on that little piece of fabric.
Which is why I have never gone skydiving. Everything that keeps someone from plunging into the earth is all bunched up in a backpack. I know that there are spare chutes and all, but you have to be really sure that the parachute was packed correctly. You'd want the best parachute packer there is because you would be trusting that person with your life.
Now I know there are many people in whom we entrust our lives. We pray the airplane pilot had enough sleep the night before. We pray the bus driver checked the tires on the bus. We pray the person driving beside us knows what to do when they have a tire blowout. I know that the odds of a parachute malfunction are slim... probably much smaller than a traffic accident, and yet I am still hesitant.
No human, no matter how skilled, is able to do everything perfectly. No matter who is at the wheel, we can never reduce all the risks in life. Danger exists all around us and it is a part of our fallen world.
I am reminded of Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”
The only one who will never fail us is God. He is the only one in whom we can always trust.
So, if God packs the parachute and flies the plane and jumps with me, I'll consider a skydiving jaunt. Anything short of that just doesn't seem logical or prudent.
Blessings,
Pastor David Hook
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