The Parachute

It's moving day, and you're at the airport. In the last few days you've either sold or packed everything you own, and now all your cash and treasured belongings are in two carry-on bags. You board the plane, along with many others who are moving as well, bags in hand. You find your seat, stow your luggage, and settle in for a very long flight.

Eventually, after many hours of laptop time, in-flight entertainment, fussy babies and sub-par meals, you notice the gun. The man seated on your right is hunched over, loading a gun in his lap, and whispering to the man on his right. In a moment, they both look over their shoulders, nod and stand up. Suddenly there are five men rushing the cockpit, and the one with the gun is planting a bullet into the lock. "Peter! Jake!" The stewardesses call out, and two burly men sitting on the aisle lunge foward into action. The gunman throws open the door, but is caught from behind by an air marshall sitting in the front row, who immediately grasps for the gun, with no success. The copilot rushes out to join Peter and Jake in their struggle to restrain the other four. The marshall twists the gunman's arm and reaches again, until he feels a kneecap jamming into his gut. He grasps a third time, but can only watch as five bullets are decisively fired into the cockpit. And with a mixture of victory and despair on the attacker's face, the five bullets find their mark. Pilot, windshield, pilot, controls, controls. With a shouting grunt the marshall overpowers the gunman, pins him to the ground and fires a few shots of his own. He turns his gun to the other hijackers, to assure their defeat, then looks into the cockpit.

The copilot rushes back into the cockpit and notices that the pilot has been killed. He crosses himself quickly but sincerely, looks to heaven, and sits down to begin trying desperately to bring the plane out of a nosedive. The head stewardess stands in the doorway and looks frantically at the copilot until he stops, and puts his hands in his lap. "What!?" she screams. He turns around and says, "That's it. There's nothing I can do." She looks through the cracked windshield at the clouds below, which are now rushing towards them.

You observe all of this in a trance, clutching your jacket tightly to your chest. But then you notice the young man in front of you, who doesn't seem worried at all. "What's wrong with you, man? Didn't you notice we're about to die?"

"Speak for yourself. I'm not gonna die, and you don't have to, either."

"What are you talking about???"

"Parachutes. I've got about a dozen of them."

"Parachutes?"

"Sure. My eight-year old makes 'em. Earns him a little money on the side."

"Wait a second. Your eight-year old?"

"Oh yeah. Don't worry, he worked out most of the kinks from the last batch. But hey... they're cheap. Only twenty bucks."

"What a rip-off!" The lady across the aisle from you pipes up. "For only fifteen bucks, I'll sell you this inflatable mattress. Just blow it up and you're feel like you're crash-landing on a cloud!"

"Forget that!" another salesman shouts. "I'll sell you this titanium cage. That way you don't even have to jump out of the plane. Just hold on tight, and nothing can harm you! Twelve bucks!"

You immediately jump up and run down the aisle to get away from these scheisters. But you have to do something! "Maybe I should just buy the $20 parachute" you say to yourself.

"Every one of his parachutes has failed." You turn, and the man behind you is smiling. "I have two hundred working parachutes right here. Would you like to have one?"

"Yes! Of course! How much does it cost?"

"Everything."

"What?"

"You have two suitcases, containing all your money and possessions, stowed in the overhead compartment. That's how much it costs."

"But not everybody has that much. What about them?"

"I charge each passenger no more, and no less, than everything he owns. We are flying over your destination as we speak. My father is the king there, and he is ready and waiting for you to arrive so he can provide for all your needs. All of the contents of your suitcases are garbage by comparison to my father's provision. You will not miss them. Of course, the key is to get there alive." He looks out the window, at the ground below which is getting closer by the second. It's do or die... time to make up your mind.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. -Matthew 13:44-46