1st Presbyterian Church Coeur d'Alene ID
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An Electrifying Opportunity

3/21/2022

4 Comments

 
Picture
Neal Nybo
A member of my church was an engineer and an officer in the Air Force during the Korean War. He had been trained as a nuclear weapons specialist. He was stationed at an underground site that tested and assembled the triggering system that detonated nuclear bombs similar to the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombs and their ignition systems were then loaded onto B-36 bombers and flown over potential enemy territory.
These triggering devices were large, about as big as a bus.  They had a hundred detonators (exploding-bridgewire detonators if you must know), each one a small bomb capable of blowing a person to bits. Together, in a synchronized dance of destruction, those small detonators would crush a large uranium capsule that then, triggered the atomic blast.

Our engineer got a call to come disarm one of these triggering devices. It seems that the people assembling it had accidently armed it! Our engineer had to crawl inside this bus sized triggering device with its hundred detonators all around him in order to disarm it. Each detonator was designed to be set off by electrical current. Coincidentally, disarming it cause an electric arc. Luckily, the nuclear part of the bomb wasn’t installed yet so he wouldn’t have destroyed area 51 or wherever his secret base was, but if just one of those 100 detonators had gone off, he would have been instantly incinerated. His work was all top secret.  So while he was disarming the device, he idly wondered what the Air Force would tell his wife was the cause of death.

And, why am I telling you this story you wonder. I am telling you because this engineer was called on to disarm those triggering devices four times! On his fourth time he decided to change his line of work. I don’t know about you but I might have made that decision a little sooner!

How many times do you and I need to be prompted by God’s Spirit before we are willing to make a change? John Wooden once said, “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” That was literally the case in this engineer’s situation. You and I may just miss the opportunities God is wanting to give us for our sakes and the sake of others. The next time you feel a small prompting in your Spirit, consider following through with it and see where it leads.

In His Name, Neal
4 Comments
Carolyn Keefer
3/23/2022 07:38:38 am

Great story......great message and reminder! Thank you!

Reply
Patricia Tiede
3/23/2022 08:30:20 am

As always, well told, thought provoking and inspiring. Thank you for all that you do.

Reply
Warren and Linda Bakes
3/23/2022 10:54:58 am

In another life, I had the rare opportunity to fish Cda lake with Dr. Wooden. It was an opportunity of a life time. He was just as proud of being an outstanding English Prof. as being a world class basket ball coach. A master of "lighting the fire" in young people.

Reply
Jackie Velez
3/25/2022 09:49:41 am

That is such an interesting story. I love to hear stories about individual heroism. The story is such a great reminder of. how God nudges us in the direction he wants us to go.

Reply



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  • Home
    • Connect With Us >
      • Prayer Request
      • eNews Archive >
        • 2020 eNews Archive
  • Who We Are
    • Our Mission
    • Leadership & Staff >
      • Job Opportunities
      • Blogs >
        • Blog Archive 2021
        • Blog Archive 2020
    • Elders, Deacons & Ministry Teams >
      • Christmas Families
      • Annual Clothing Givewaway
    • History >
      • Past Ministers
    • What Presbyterians Believe
    • Annual Reports
  • Ministries
    • Children & Families
    • Youth
    • Missions
    • Serve >
      • Choir
      • Church Ministry Teams
      • Ecumenical Kitchen
      • Family Promise
      • Handbell Choir
      • Knitting for Warmth
      • Praise Team
      • Reception Team
      • VBS Planning Team
    • Grow >
      • Book Studies
      • Men's Fellowship
      • Presbyterian Women
      • Sunday Bible Study
      • Women's Circles
    • Connect >
      • Dinners at 6-ish
      • Flying Solo
  • Sundays
    • Classic Worship
    • Contemplative Worship
    • Sermons
  • Giving