The Soldier and the Seagulls
This is what real love is: It is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us. He sent his Son to die in our place to take away our sins.
I John 4:10
The great Paul Harvey, in his book, The Rest of the Story, tells this amazing tale.
For many years, about sunset every Friday evening, an old man could be seen walking a lonely stretch of Florida seacoast. In his hand is a large bucket filled with shrimp.
As he makes his way out onto a broken pier, the man is soon surrounded by scores of screeching seagulls. They are familiar with the old man and his bucket of shrimp.
For half an hour or so, the old man stands on the pier tossing shrimp to the fluttering white birds. And as he does, if you listen carefully, you can hear him say, “Thank you. Thank you.”
Soon his pail of shrimp is empty. But the old man’s heart is full. And he will faithfully repeat this ritual of gratitude week after week for years.
It might be easy to write him off as just another old man feeding birds. But to do so would be to miss out on an amazing lesson from an amazing man
See, the old man was famed World War I and II fighter ace and hero Captain Eddie Rickenbacker. And the reason he fed the seagulls goes back to an event that took place in October of 1942.
The Sacrificial Visitor
Captain Eddie had been given a top-secret mission. He was to deliver a message of utmost importance to General Douglas MacArthur who was headquartered in New Guinea.
Rickenbacker was given a B-17 Flying Fortress and a hand-picked crew to fulfill the mission. However, because of a faulty navigation instrument, they missed their target by hundreds of nautical miles and found themselves hopelessly lost.
With the fuel eventually running out, the crew was forced to ditch in the ocean. They escaped in life rafts and found themselves adrift in the vast Pacific.
Although often stalked by sharks, and in danger of being spotted by Japanese aircraft, the greatest threat in the ensuing days came from starvation. Eight days out, their rations were long gone or destroyed by the salt water.
It would take a miracle to sustain them. And a miracle occurred.
In Captain Eddie's own words, "Cherry," that was the B-17 pilot, Captain William Cherry, "read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my eyes to keep out some of the glare, I dozed off."
"Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a sea gull. I don't know how I knew; I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one said a word but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food…if I could catch it."
And the rest, as they say, is history. Captain Eddie caught the gull. Its feathers were plucked, and its flesh was eaten. What’s more, the bird’s intestines were used as bait, and the fish that were caught sustained the crew for nearly a month until they were rescued.
Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that life-saving seagull. That's why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude. To feed the gulls and to say thanks.
When you stop to think about it, we have much in common with Captain Eddie. We too were in a helpless state. We too were in need of a miracle to deliver us. And we too received one.
We were saved by a Sacrificial Visitor. Through His death, we were given life.
Which is why we, like Eddie Rickenbacker, have every reason to look into the sky in this special season…and offer our heartfelt thanks.
Lord, help me to never forget the miracle of eternal life…and to make every day a day of thanksgiving.
PRAYER
Lord, I bow in worship and gratitude for what You did for me. The miracle of my eternal life is even more profound than Eddie Rickenbacker’s miracle of physical life. Help me to never forget that…and to make every day a day of thanksgiving.
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