A Thanksgiving Story

Paul Harvey once told a beautiful story about an old man who would weekly visit a pier on the east coast of Florida. Every Friday night, until his death in 1973, he would return with a large bucket of shrimp. The seagulls would flock to him, and he would feed them from his bucket.

However, as you might have guessed, there is a backstory.

In October 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was on a flight mission over the South Pacific during World War II. Somewhere over the middle of the ocean he and his men became lost and beyond the reach of radio. The crew of eight had to ditch their plane in the Central Pacific ocean.

Over the course of 24 days, they drifted thousands of miles in the scorching sun, torrential rain, and rough seas. They spend many sleepless nights as sharks circled and even rammed their raft. Most significantly, they faced the prospect of starvation as the bulk of their rations were destroyed by saltwater. Things were dire, and they prayed for divine intervention.

In Captain Eddie’s own words, “Cherry, the pilot, read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my eyes to keep out some of the glare, I dozed off. Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a seagull. I don’t know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too.”

Captain Eddie caught the gull. They ate what they could and then used the intestines for bait to catch fish. This gift buoyed their hopes and infused them with a will to live. In fact, the men credited their survival to this one lone seagull, uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from land, who seemed to offer itself as a sacrifice.

Of course, Captain Eddie never forgot. Every Friday evening, so the story goes, about sunset along the east coast of Florida, you could see an old man walking, white-haired, slightly bent. His bucket was filled with shrimp to feed the gulls. This was his way of remembering, and giving thanks.

Let us pray: We have set this day aside, O God, to also remember and give thanks. We too have been blessed by your bountiful provision, by your goodness and grace. Out of gratitude, we return our hearts and our lives to you. Use us in the days and weeks ahead to bless others, and by so doing to bless you. Great is thy faithfulness, O God our Father. Great is thy faithfulness; through Jesus Christ. Amen.