Why does a ship run aground?

A few times a week I talk to people who say “their ship” has run aground. They are stuck to the ground and cannot get loose by themselves anymore. Fortunately, they ask for help (and that can be a huge! step) and then there are a number of things that need to be done:

• The ship must be pulled free and set sail again.
• The cause of the stranding must be resolved
• The cause of this must be remedied; otherwise the ship will be stranded again in a year’s time. (or shorter)

One of my vague hobbies is watching videos of shipwrecks and plane crashes. I’m not interested in the fact that a plane crashed, but why it happened. Because, mind you, it usually starts with something like:

Plane crashed because it lost one engine out of two.

And then something special happens…. and usually it goes something like this:

• The aircraft lost an engine because maintenance was not carried out properly.
• The maintenance was not carried out properly because the maintenance instructions were not clear.
• The maintenance instructions were not good because there were no good instructors.
• There were no good instructors because management had no money for them.
• Management didn’t have the money for it because the economy was very, very bad and that’s why they made this choice.
• Management could have cut back on all kinds of things, but never on this!
• Etc. etc. etc.

If one link in the entire line had been correct, the accident could have been prevented.

And are we there yet? No. It gets a bit more complex…

• If the pilot had acted differently, the plane could have landed safely with one engine.
• The pilot did not have enough hours “on the job”, given the complexity, and should have had more training before being allowed on that aircraft.
• In conversations with his colleagues, it emerged that the pilot himself did not feel comfortable about having to fly independently yet.
• The instructor didn’t really have a good feeling about it either, but he allowed it to happen.
• Etc. etc. etc.

Here too: if one link in the entire line had been correct, the accident could have been prevented.

And are we there? No. It gets more complex…

• If air traffic control had responded differently to the “mayday, mayday” call, there would still have been enough time to land.
• The weather at that time was terrible, and therefore traffic control was too busy.
• As a result, air traffic control was unable to assess the situation quickly enough and well enough because…
• Etc. etc. etc.

I think you get the idea by now.

And now to today…. How often we see that blame is quickly placed on the pilot and no further consideration is given to all other factors. Sorry pilot, you were responsible for it and now your ship is stranded. We also see that the pilot himself is quickly inclined to only look at himself and thus places 110% of the blame on himself. But is that fair?

Yes, if the pilot had removed one link, the ship would have been saved. But….

• Where was the instructor?
• The maintenance man?
• The management?
• What about the plane itself?
• The Weather?
• What was the history of the plane?
• What was the pilot’s history?

All lines with their own factors. And if there was just one factor that could have been different… the ship would not have run aground.

Let’s take a more honest look at ourselves and look at the multiple lines and factors why something went wrong. Don’t be so quick to blame yourself for everything and blame everything on yourself.
Let’s take a more honest look at another person and look at the multiple threads and factors behind why something went wrong. Don’t be so quick to blame the pilot for everything and blame everything on him.

Life is extremely complex. So many lines, so many factors. Only if we are very honest and thorough, then we can find out how to deal with it. If we approach it “too simply”, ships will continue to run aground… Oops…

If we were to do something more, delve a little deeper into it, look a little more at all the lines, all the factors, then many more people could be saved, we could get them back into service faster, there would be more hope and also more room for forgiveness. Not only towards others, but perhaps also towards yourself?

Look further together and look for all the lines and all the factors, and then we can see together how we can solve this together. For us, that’s our daily work. Are you participating with us? Because only then can we, together, with God’s help, The Captain and Helmsman, prevent people from really getting stuck… with all the dramatic consequences that entails…

And for your religious life? The same applies to that… So you thought you could be the captain and helmsman at the same time instead of God? Who was at the helm? You or Him? Only if you always trust Him 110% as the Captain and also listen to Him, then your ship will not founder.

Holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.

1 Timothy 1:19

Look beyond only “the nose” of your ship. Trust the Captain and don’t just blame anyone without first looking cautiously at all the lines and factors, including all the factors that have happened in your own life. Sometimes you couldn’t do anything(!) about the cause…. but now it is time to start working on the consequences and how to deal with it. And where you are stuck, directionless, maybe hopeless, there is The Captain who would like to help you. Today.

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

Mark 4:39

Please do it. Or else….another ship will run aground. 🙁