On the 24th July 2000 the preliminary... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

No-one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, and no-one has power in the day of death.
Ecclesiastes 8:8.

On the 24th July 2000 the preliminary contracts for the purchase of Airbus 380 were signed. This large capacity aircraft is the biggest non-military plane ever to be produced on a large scale. The conclusion of the contract was given an honourable mention in a regional newspaper the next day in Toulouse, the headquarters of Airbus in southern France.

A day later the same newspaper printed an article on an older "super plane", the Concord. The report ended in these words: "The Concord should still be flying in 2020."

On the evening of that 25th July the start of Concord's flight from a Paris airport ended in tragedy. It caused the death of 113 victims and was the beginning of the end of Concord.

Meanwhile the demand for Airbus 380 has diminished, so that in 2021 production ended.

Airbus 380, Concord and the American space shuttle Columbia all demonstrate impressively the progress of technology and the ability of their designers in our age. The world is proud of such great achievements. But when catastrophes occur through human or technical failure, a feeling of insecurity overcomes us, and fearfully we sense our powerlessness.

The preacher speaks of powers that we cannot control and of developments and events that reveal our helplessness. He was a shrewd observer. He had learnt what was important in life. Man's inability gave him the opportunity to point out the eternal God, whom we should honour. We can entrust ourselves to His omnipotence (ch. 8.: 12; 9:1).

Today's reading: Joshua 3:14-4:8 · 1 Corinthians 2:6-16