Just about everyone has heard of the Wright brothers, the bicycle mechanics that pioneered manned motorized flight in the first part of the twentieth century. But what you may not know is that prior to that day, the Wrights, unknown with no university education, were not the leader in aviation. They were obscure at best, and another man was expected to put the first airplane in the air.
His name was Dr. Samuel P. Langley. He was a respected former professor of mathematics and astronomy who at that time was the director of the Smithsonian institution. Langley was an accomplished thinker, scientist, and inventor. He had published several important works on aerodynamics, and he possessed a vision for achieving manned flight. In fact, till late 1890s, he had done extensive experiments with large unmanned plane models and achieved a high degree of success.
In 1898, Langley approached the U.S. War Department for funding to design and build an airplane to carry a man aloft. And the department gave him a commission of $50,000- a huge sum at that time. Langley went right to work. By 1901, he had successfully tested an unmanned gasoline-powered heavier- than-air craft: It was the first in history. And when he enlisted the aid of Charles Manley, an engineer who built a powerful new lightweight engine based on the designs of Stephen Balzer, his success seemed inevitable.
On October 8, 1903. Langley expected his years of work to come to fruition. As journalists and curious on lookers watched, Charles Manley, wearing a cork-lined jacket, strode across the deck of a modified houseboat and climbed into the pilot’s seat of a craft called the
Great Aerodrome. The full seized, motorized device was perched atop a specially built catapult designed to initiate the Aerodrome’s flight into the air. But when they attempted the launch, part of the Aerodrome got caught, and the biplane was flung into sixteen feet of water a mere fifty yards away from the boat.
Criticism of Langley was brutal. At first, Langley didn’t let failure or the accompanying criticisms deter him. Eight weeks later in early December, he and Manley were ready to attempt flight again. They had made numerous modifications to the Aerodrome, and once more Manley climbed into the cockpit from the houseboat’s deck, ready to make history. But as before, disaster struck. This time the cable supports to the wings snapped as the plane was launched, the craft caught again on the launch rail, and it plunged into the river upside down. Manley nearly died.
Again the criticism was fierce. His Great Aerodrome was called “Langley’s Folly,” and Langley himself was accused of wasting public funds. The New York Times commented, “We hope that Prof. Langley will not put his substantial greatness as a scientist in further peril by continuing to waste his time, and the money involved in further airship experiments.” He didn’t.
Defeated and demoralized, he abandoned his decades- long pursuit of flight. Just days later, Orville and Wilbur Wright, uneducated, unknown, and unfounded – flew their plane “Flyer 1” over the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Langley let his moment of disaster make him think it was the end. He abandoned his experiments. Two years later he suffered a stroke, and a year later he died. And today, while even young school children have heard of the Wright Brothers, Langley is remembered only by relatively few aviation buffs.
Never give up.
-Uju Onyechere.
…this is a continuation from last week article titled ‘It is not in vain.’
Likely Possibilities
At some point in time, one or more people must have prayed, pursued and persuaded men to forsake their evil ways and turn to righteous living. Some might have died without seeing them repent. Some might have given up, discouraged as they saw these men go deeper in their sinful acts and wickedness. But in their dying hours, the two men remembered that Jesus is the way to eternal life and they made it right with God by putting their trust in Jesus. The dying sorcerer remembered there was life after death. He remembered that pastors show people the way to heaven. The criminal couldn’t have learnt those words of faith on the cross; but possibly from his parents, a rabbi as a growing Jewish boy or from the synagogue and the temple as an adult; until he derailed somewhere into criminality. But in the face of death, he remembered something like:
- The fear of God
- The just punishment for apprehended criminals
- The kingdom of God
- That Jesus has the power to admit into the kingdom
- Thatcalling on Jesus can admit one into the Kingdom
He remembered all this because he must have at one time or the other heard them preached or taught. Though his life contrasted what he knew about the kingdom, he remembered and appropriated them when the time came. Jesus accepted him instantly without giving a thought to his sinful wasted past. So also did He accept the sorcerer who once publicly despised God’s supremacy.
It is Never in Vain
Parents, teachers and ministers of the word labour to bring children and adults to Christ. Sometime they meet with frustrations and disappointments. Some preachers write off some sinners as impossible candidates of the kingdom. Such should be encouraged that their labours are never in vain even if results are not seen immediately. Keep at it. Proclaim it anyhow and demonstrate it by all means. You never know when the seed you plant will germinate and yield results. There will be surprises in heaven.
It is never too late
The Bible for sure warns in Heb 3:12-16
“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end…”
It goes on to exhort “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
So no one should be encouraged to postpone putting his faith in Christ till dying moments. Many may not have the opportunity to call on Jesus before death as the sorcerer and the thief had. Nevertheless, Jesus accepts anyone that comes to him at any point in time and the way they are. Let no one hinder or discourage a willing soul from making amends in their last days.
As proclaimers of the gospel, we only open the door to heaven with the key (gospel) that is given but we are not the gate keepers deciding which specific individuals enter. We don’t decide when, how and where the seed we scatter will germinate.
At the blast of the trumpet, many Christians will rise from non-Christian graves. Let us be encouraged by Paul’s admonition,
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Just ponder on this
We may be working in hard places or with difficult persons, never give up. Results will always come but may not be the way we expect. The criminal did not expect to be saved but suddenly remembered what someone sometime in the past said about the kingdom. Now in case you want to give up on a person or a group of people just ask yourself, “What would have happened if Jesus had tried proving a point by coming down from the cross as the mocking party wanted him to?”
The destiny of many people hang on our being on that cross we carry. When God wants to work in the lives of the people you’ve laboured on, it will never be too late.
-Namani J Nharrel
| Never mind who dares… if God cares
Never mind who frowns… if God smiles Never mind who mocks… if God exalts Never mind who cheats… if God lifts Never mind who struggles… if God promotes Never mind who curses… if God blesses Never mind who withholds… if God gives Never mind who disappoints… if God appoints Never mind who separates… if God unites Never mind who rejects… if God accepts Never mind who forgets… if God remembers Never mind who tears… if God mends Never mind who stirs… if God stills Never mind who binds… if God liberates Never mind who devours… if God protects Never mind who thirsts… if God waters Never mind who hungers… if God feeds Never mind who stains… if God cleanses Never mind who faints… if God heals Never mind who hates… if God loves Never mind who crucifies… if God resurrects Never mind who dies… if God lives.
“…Casting the whole of your care (all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all) on God, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” I Peter 5:7 (AMP)
– Tope S. Aladenusi |
