Who Packed Your Parachute?

by William R. Pack

Charles Plumb, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate was a jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands.

He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, You were shot down!

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"

Plumb assured him," It sure did, if your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said, ‘Good morning, how are you?’ or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor.” Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shroud lines and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory. He needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachute.

For Further Study

Verses to Consider

  • Psalms 12:1-4
  • Proverbs 14:3
  • Proverbs 15:23
  • Proverbs 16:24
  • Proverbs 25:11
  • Proverbs 27:2
  • Ecclesiastes 9:14-15
  • Matthew 7:12
  • Matthew 20:25-28
  • Luke 17:12-19
  • Luke 22:25-27
  • Acts 11:23
  • Acts 20:34-35
  • Romans 16:18
  • I Corinthians 10:12
  • I Thessalonians 2:5-6
  • Hebrews 13:16

Questions to Ponder

  1. Who is more important, the ruler or the servant? Why?
  2. Why do you appreciate compliments? What does that mean you should do for others?
  3. Does it make a difference if the compliment is sincere?
  4. Does it matter when a compliment is given?
  5. Should we hint that we would like a compliment?
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