I Couldn’t Die
On June 9, 1940, the British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious was intercepted returning from Norway by two German battle cruisers. The Glorious and her two escort destroyers were sunk, with more than fifteen hundred sailors lost. Ronald Healiss, a Royal Marine, was one of the few survivors. Sighting a lifeboat in the distance, he began the longest swim of his life. After what seemed like hours, every muscle was cramped and his stomach was in a knot. He thought his time had come.
It’s true that when you see death approaching your past life passes before your eyes. I remembered my boyhood, the day I joined the Royal Marines. I could see my mother clearly. And the girl who would have been my wife in a few short days. In my trouser-pocket there had been a little leather case in which I always carried a picture of my parents and my girl. I felt about me with a frozen hand. The case was still there. I took it out while I floated, intent on bidding them goodbye. But I couldn’t. The faces were too real. The sodden photographs smiled up at me and I knew I couldn’t die without seeing those three people again. I thrust the wallet back in my pocket and struck out again with fresh strength.101
A friend once told me a similar story of survival in a Vietnamese rice paddy. He decided that in spite of his wounds and “hopeless” situation, he was just not going to die in that place. He reached down within himself for the strength to keep going and somehow got to a safe place. These stories are a reminder of how precious life is and how strong we can be once we make the decision to move ahead. God stands ready to reach out to us when we choose to go forward in spite of our difficulties and when we turn to him for help. In him there is truly no hopeless situation.
But you, O Lord, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
—Psalm 22:19