"Build The Plane" - Flight Of The Phoenix

Last night I saw the movie 'Flight of the Phoenix' for the second time a remake of 1965 version. The movie has some good memorable quotes. At first you may think it seems to be a movie about survival - how against all odds the oil rig crew that crashed into the desert survived and build the plane and saved their lives by getting out of the grips of death that surrounded them on all sides. But there is much more to that story than mere survival, it is a story that reveals more about relational dynamics, hope, and above all resurrecting the deepest desires of our lives..."To Live". In one of the scenes, the Captain of the plane has left the group to find Liddle a crew member who has left the crash site as he learns the captain didn't want to do anything about their situation and was against the idea of building the plane. The captain Frank Towns has resigned himself the fact that there was no chance for them to survive and the best thing for them was to wait, conserve water and again wait for a a search party to find them. The captain finally finds Liddle and tries to stop Liddle from wandering away from the group into the open desert. Liddle says I don't want to be a part of a group that doesn't want to do anything or at least try to re-build the crashed plane. The following is the dialogue that ensues between them.

Frank Towns: Why give people false hope? Liddle : Come on man. Most folks spend their whole lives holding on to hopes and dreams that are never going to come true but they hold on to them. Why are you going to give up on them now when you need them most? Frank Towns: You are assuming I'm one of those people who has hopes and dreams. Liddle: I find it hard to believe that a man who learns to fly never had a dream. Frank Towns: Look, how can I let those people build that plane when I don't believe it will work? And, every day they waste trying to build it brings them one day closer to dying. Liddle: I think a man only needs one thing in life. He just needs someone to love. If you can't give him that, then give him something to hope for. And if you can't give him that, just give him something to do Frank Towns: James, you'll never make it. Liddle: Then I''ll die trying. There are people counting on me. Frank Towns: Okay Okay, Okay. We''ll build it.

Aren't those some amazing lines? The reason to live goes much more deeper than mere survival, it is rooted in God given desires. The desire  of a redeemed heart is good and our lives burn down to three things love, hope and purpose. God places these as foundations of desire. We are created with a desire to love, with desire to clinch to our hopes and dreams and ultimately to have a desire to live a life of purpose. Liddle manages to convince the captain with the idea - "yes we are stranded but now we have a purpose, we have renewed friendships, a new fellowship and it is worth the shot to try rather than sit and do nothing".

Again a saved and redeemed heart is good and desires that He places in us are good, a contrary idea to the traditional Christian belief. It is good because Yeshua has made it good and we cannot afford to doubt the good work He has done for you and me.

Blessings, & Shalom,

Sam Kurien