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Never, never, never give up
Monday, 21 June 2010
When we read stories of great achievements, we sometimes fail to appreciate what it took to overcome the disappointments and setbacks that were repeatedly faced as great inventors toiled away in back rooms, shops and backyard garages without fanfare or recognition. Many times they had no concrete proof that what they envisioned would work. All they had was a dream, an idea, an inspiration and the perseverance to see it through to the end. Even as a Christian, to succeed in any God given endeavour, any desire, any goal of significance, there will always be the need for perseverance. Very little of true value comes easily and as the saying goes, The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places.This is certainly the case when we look at the Wright brothers and their breakthrough experiments in human flight. In 1878, when Wilbur Wright was 11 and his younger brother Orville 7, their father gave them a flying helicopter made of cork and bamboo and was powered by rubber bands. It was their first exposure to powered flight and ignited a vision that would drive them for the rest of their lives. Wilbur and Orville were so taken by the toy they played with it till it broke. But instead of allowing this certain disappointment to overwhelm them, they decided to build one just like it. It was the first powered aircraft they built together, but definitely not their last. Not long after this Orville was caught by his teacher working on one of these toys in class. When chastised for his lack of concentration, Orville explained that it was important work as he and Wilbur planned to build a craft large enough to carry both him and his brother, through the air[1].The idea of flying continued to captivate the two brothers into their twenties and thirties. Their first obstacle, however, was not external, but internal. They were unknowns. Neither had a university education. They were push bike repairmen attempting to enter the furore of flight which was attracting some of the brightest minds of the era. People like Dr Samuel Langley - an astronomer, physicist and inventor. He had been the chair of mathematics at the United States Naval Academy. In 1867, he became the director of the Allegheny Observatory, a professor of astronomy at the Western University of Pennsylvania, and in 1887 the third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution where he founded the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. During the 1890's Langley had done extensive experiments with large unmanned models and had achieved a high degree of success. So successful, that in 1898 he received a War Department grant of $50,000 and $20,000 from the Smithsonian to develop the first piloted plane [2].What made the Wright Brothers think that they had anything to offer or add to such luminary thinkers? The answer is found in a letter that Wilbur wrote to Octave Chanute in 1900. Chanute was well known as a brilliant and innovative railroad engineer, who had put together the first organised, written collection of aviation research in 1894. Although too old to attempt flying himself, he worked alongside a number of younger experimenters and corresponded with most of the well known aviation pioneers.
In his letter to Chanute, Wilbur Wright's opening two lines allow us a glimpse into the internal strength and driving passion that had brought them this far and the perseverance which would carry them through the next three years of regular failures, setbacks and disappointments. He wrote, "For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. My disease has increased in severity and I feel that it will soon cost me an increased amount of money if not my life.” [3] If this was the level of intensity and dedication that underlay Wilbur Wright's drive toward human flight, how much more as Christians should we be persistent in pursuing the dreams and desires that we believe have been given to us by our Lord?The brothers first built and tested a series of kite and glider designs from 1900 to 1902. However, these gliders did not work as well as they had expected . Their first glider, launched in 1900, had only about half the lift they anticipated. Their second glider, built a year later, after painstaking research and experimentation, performed even more poorly. Disappointment and setbacks will be the familiar, though unwelcome, companions of any person who is looking to breakthrough into new horizons for their life, dreams and goals. Faith in Christ will not shelter you from the rigors of attempting great things, but as Paul prayed for the Ephesian church, God will grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; for all to which you aspire. There were many other frustrating obstacles and dead ends as they pushed toward their dream. There were a plethora of ideas that had come down through the ages. Some helpful, some not. Calculations needed to be continually reworked. They were stepping into uncharted aeronautical territory and writing the text book as they went.During September and October 1902 they made between 700 and 1,000 glides, the longest lasting 26 seconds. The big breakthrough came from the idea to make the plane rudder steerable. This was the Eureka moment, the landmark discovery. On March 23, 1903, the Wrights applied for their famous patent for a ‘Flying Machine’.
Dr Langley made two much heralded attempts, to be the first to fly on October 7 and December 8, 1903. In the first attempt, Langley said the wing clipped part of the catapult, leading to a plunge into the river "like a handful of mortar," according to one reporter. On the second attempt the craft broke up as it left the catapult. Newspapers were savage in their attacks on Langely and made great sport of the failures. The citicism was so severe, even by some members of Congress, that Langley, demoralised and humiliated, did not attempt a third flight, even though he was convinced his design could work[4]. Nine days after the failed second attempt of Langely, Orville Wright piloted the first powered airplane 20 feet above a wind-swept beach in North Carolina. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Three more flights were made that day with Orville's brother Wilbur piloting the record flight lasting 59 seconds over a distance of 852 feet.There are many lessons to be gleaned from these historical events for the insightful believer. Here a just a few.* The Wright Brothers were willing to learn from those around them and those that had gone before them. As believers, we must remain teachable, no matter how much we believe our vision has come from God. 1 Corinthians 10:11 says, speaking of the Children of Israel, These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don't be so naive and self-confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence (The Message).* They continually pushed through disappointment as time and again their ideas proved to be incorrect.
We are called by God to run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1). If we didn't need it, he wouldn't have written it to encourage us.* They didn't allow failure to overcome them, but continued to trial new designs and adjustments as they pushed toward their goal. We have a goal and a calling that has eternal consequences and rewards. We must not allow setbacks to cause us to give up, as Paul wrote to the Galatian church.Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9).
* It appears Langely's reputation was more important to him, or the criticism too severe, to push on toward his dream. The risk involved in the possibility of another failure was too much, even though the finish line was in sight. There is always great cost in achieving your dreams.In the memory of the Wright brothers, in the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ and with the words of Winston Churchill during the second World War; never, never, never give up.1. www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Wright_Bros/wright_family/WR1.htm
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley
3. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wrighthtml/wrightchan.html
Ward Lucas is the Senior Pastor of C3Church Balmain, based in Sydney. For more information visit http://www.cccbalmain.org.
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