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Put Faith In God, But Safety Is Up To You

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By BUZZ KELLY

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 20, 2008

A popular and charismatic pastor of an evangelical Baptist church dies in an airplane crash. He was flying a single-engine Piper airplane with his 13-year old son at his side. There are front-page headlines and grief throughout the community. It is a sad story. But it is a tragedy that should not have occurred.

The pastor was on a self-imposed schedule, flying to appointments around the nation. He took off from a field that was unattended in the midst of high winds and poor weather conditions.

Did he know what he was flying into? Maybe, maybe not. But there is no excuse.

I have logged more than 3,000 sea miles on boats and been through storms that would scare most people but never lost a boat or passenger or crew, because I don't play games with the weather. Experienced pilots and sailors rarely do.

I recall a time not long ago when I had a circuit judge, an old friend, and his wife and kids aboard, sailing on my boat off Egmont Key. I looked at the sky and saw a squall line approaching. A Florida squall line is a vicious storm that comes on you very fast. The worst ones are when the horizon turns green under dark skies, and that's the kind I saw that day.

I could have run with the wind, maybe got beyond the squall - I had a fast trimaran - but it wasn't a prudent choice. The prudent choice was to anchor offshore of Egmont Key, get my passengers onshore to shelter in one of the old stone bunkers, and wait out the storm.

My beautiful and talented wife gathered driftwood for a warming fire, and we all sat on the ground and sang songs while the wind and rain blew outside. When I judged it OK, we re-embarked, sailed back to our dock at Boca Ciega Bay, and everybody got home safely.

Point is, it isn't God who kills you. It's you, by being impatient, inattentive or careless. Flying in bad weather when you could easily change plans, or sailing in bad conditions when you don't have to, is being imprudent. You can die from imprudence. And that's not God's choice; it's yours.

Buzz Kelly is a Tampa native, former advertising executive and freelance writer.

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