The Seagull
They ate the fourth and last orange on the sixth day. It was their last source of nourishment. An even deeper sense of doom settled over the men packed together in the three small life rafts, adrift on the Pacific Ocean. Hunger, thirst, sunburn, open sores, and untreated wounds magnified their sense of despair.
All the odds seemed stacked against this little group, except for one thing in their favor. Among them was the famous airman and World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker. The ex-military man considered himself the senior of the group, based on his experience, and felt that it was his role to hold the rest together. He became a lonely voice of encouragement. When the food ran out and discouragement seemed to peak, he started prayer meetings twice a day, with Scripture readings from a New Testament belonging to one of the men. The procedure was for each man to read a passage fitting to the occasion, even if some had never read from the Bible before. Rickenbacker found new meaning and a special beauty in the words of Psalm 23 and Matthew 6:31–34.395
There were a few cynics in the group at first, until the afternoon of the eighth day. After a Scripture reading and prayer for deliverance, what Rickenbacker termed “a small miracle” occurred. As he was dozing, a seagull landed on his head. With great care he slowly reached up and somehow grasped the bird’s legs. They finally had a little food, but, more importantly, had bait for the fishhooks, which had been useless up until then. Their survival was insured. Rickenbacker said later: “There was not a one of us who was not aware of the fact that our gull had appeared just after we had finished our prayer service. Some may call it coincidence. I call it a gift from heaven.”396
So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom.
—Matthew 6:31–33