The Vulcan and Me

When I look back on my selection, I am amazed that I ever got selected, let alone ordained!  When you go to a selection conference certain questions are asked by the selectors to get an insight into the person who stands before them.  Among the questions are:

What other interests do you have?  “I support a charity called ’Vulcan to the Sky,’” I said

What was the last film you watched?  “The Dambusters,” I replied.

You are also asked to give a talk and chair a discussion resulting from the talk.  What was mine on?  Trident missiles!

I am surprised that they didn’t put me down as a war monger and say to me, “Thanks, but no thanks!”

  Now, for the uninitiated, the Vulcan I am referring to is not a character out of “Star Trek”, although for a long time she did fly for the RAF whose motto is “Per ardua, ad astra” (through adversity to the stars).  The Vulcan I am referring to is a delta wing (looks like a triangle in the sky) bomber.  She was built at the time of the cold war.  She did see service in the Falklands War but because she could not be fitted with the laser guidance system to guide her bombs, shortly after the war she was taken out of service.

So why should someone, called to the priesthood, support the resurrection of such a potential killing machine?  The answer is simple, to see her fly.  Nowadays, she only flies to please crowds of onlookers at air shows.  When you see her flown by an expert, as she swoops, turns and soars like an eagle, the purpose for which she was manufactured no longer seems important.  She was born out of man’s hate and mistrust for his fellow man, but now she flies as an example of man’s God given ingenuity.

I have one favourite memory of the Vulcan which I will share with you.  It was when she flew with the USAF’s main cold war bomber, the B52, at an air show.  The B52 lumbered up the runway and slowly took to the sky.  The Vulcan sat on the runway in readiness.  As the B52 got airborne the Vulcan’s engines roared and in no time she was airborne as well.  She then rose vertically and proceeded to do several swoops, turns and passes while the B52 got to display height and turned.  As I reflected on this, I found myself drawing an analogy between people working with God and those trying to do things in their own strength.  With God we can soar, without him we lumber along.  At times, we all forget to rely on God, but no matter how big and strong we are, without Him, we will never soar. 

I hope you all get the opportunity to see the Vulcan, and as you watch her I hope, too, that you will reflect on your God given talents and how you should use them, and on how you can soar with God.

God bless

Debbie