The Lesson of the Double Eagle

Bill Pearce, the host of the radio program, “Night Sounds” reflects on the story of the “Double Eagle,” a helium balloon which lifted off from a potato field in Maine with the ultimate goal of landing in Paris, France.

It seems as the craft wound its way across the ocean, it began to lose altitude, and the helmsman was faced with the decision to either drop into the waters of the rough and uncertain Atlantic, or drop what had only a moment before seemed to be crucial cargo.

The captain and his passenger began to throw all sorts of items overboard. Chairs, cameras, food, and even water. Anything which had the potential to lighten the load, and allow the craft to remain airborne.

Well, I can tell you their attempt to lessen the weight of the aircraft and remain in the steering currents long enough to reach their goal… was successful, though at a significant cost. At least until the moment when it became imperative to dispense with what was, after all, momentary matter, or arbitrary stuff.

As a counselor I can both professionally and experientially identify with the history of the crew of the Double Eagle.

Having literally counseled thousands of clients over the course of more than two decades, I have heard the most horrendous, compelling stories of people who were in danger of going down in their own figurative Double Eagle.

And I would often repeat a self-styled adage.

“Like going to sleep with your feet in a wet gray mixture, only to wake up and discover its

… concrete.”

(Odd, it occurs to me that only in the past couple of years I accepted a part-time management position with a

… concrete construction company)!

My co-counselor, Sherri by name, once counseled a particular young lady, and after a few weeks suggested she bring in her eight year old daughter.

That evening Margery summoned her daughter.

“Janie, there’s a woman at our church who I’ve been speaking to. I wonder if you would talk with her.”

Janie responded with a quizzical look, and shrugged.

“Uh, I don’t know, Mom. What kind of problems does she have?”

(I’m almost prone to include, “LOL.”)

And though this has to be one of the most humorous stories which ever came out of my own counseling experience, I think it has much to teach us.

We all have issues which, with the years, accumulate and gain weight. And sometimes we need someone “with flesh on” to come along side, and not unlike the infamous Double Eagle, help us throw out some of the accumulated weight.

The baggage of life may represent the memory and ever present trauma of having been abused as a child, it may look more like the guilt of having, as an unwed teen, aborted a child, or sadly it may involve dispensing with an adulterous spouse who has chosen the path of betrayal one too many times.

There’s a heaven to gain and a hell to shun, and sometimes the latter includes the hell of a life gone bad, but which has the potential of going good.

Sometimes we are guilty of limiting God, and His plans for lives, as the result of the accumulated weight of “things” which serve to bow us low and keep us stuck.

 I believe there is a life to be had, and a goal to be reached, but it may involve

… throwing out some of the weight.

 

By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 14. Volumes 1-15, Copyright 2015.

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