Quarter Inch of Steel
Sam Hakam was radio operator on the SS Lehigh when she was torpedoed off the coast of Africa in October 1941. He vividly recalled a shipmate running around the deck shouting, “They can’t do this to us!” due to the fact that the United States was not then at war. Fortunately, most of the crew made it to one of the four lifeboats before the ship went under. Within a few days conditions on Hakam’s boat worsened due to the extreme tropical conditions. Water was scarce and the days were hot. Dehydration set in as parched throats and swollen tongues plagued each man.
One night a storm came up, promising rain and blessed relief. All that came, however, were high winds and crashing waves. Hakam later described his thoughts: “Our small boat was tossed about wildly. Good seamanship kept us afloat. It finally passed. I lay exhausted on the bottom of the boat and reflected there was only about one quarter inch of steel thickness between myself and hell.”109
Hopefully, each of us can comprehend the fragile nature of life without being in a lifeboat at night threatened by stormy seas. Sam Hakam’s experience only dramatizes the obvious. Since we are not guaranteed any specific amount of time on this earth, we should use the time we have wisely. We do this when we focus daily on the purpose of our lives: finding and nourishing a relationship with God. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks the question: “What is the chief end of man?” Every day we should meditate on the answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”110
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
—Genesis 3:8–9