Life is precious: reflecting on Sunday’s plane crash

Today's article doesn’t involve my usual Wide Moat Research commentary. My mind isn’t on stock recommendations, earnings forecasts, or even wide economic moats.

And no, it’s not on politics either.

It’s on Sunday’s tragic plane crash in Southern Florida. I can’t get it off my mind.

Right now, I don’t think I should.

I know that stretch of road the jet collided into. I've driven along it countless times. Likewise, I’ve flown in plenty of small planes in my younger days back when I was searching out commercial real estate (CRE) plots.

Perhaps that’s the reason why the news is hitting me so hard.

Yet as much as I can’t stop dwelling on it, there are other people who are feeling it so much worse. Unimaginably so.

That Learjet 60 on course from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas carried nine precious lives, including the 20-year-old co-pilot and a married couple with their two very young children.

Those nine people were going about life with no idea this would be their last earthly journey. They had families and friends who had no idea they wouldn’t be able to say hello or goodbye again, and are now desperately trying to deal with their loss.

That alone should make all of us pause. Which is why I am.

Like I said before, I used to travel extensively throughout the Southeast while building shopping centers and stores for growing retailers.

Time was money back then, so I welcomed every chance I got at taking private planes. They allowed me to visit multiple projects in a single day and still get back home at night.

Even so, looking back now, I realize I probably took risks I wouldn't today.

There was this one flight in particular when I was working on a shopping center in Boone, North Carolina. My girlfriend at the time had her pilot’s license and was flying us into the mountains as thunderstorms approached.

Even decades later, I still remember how frightened I was.

There was no room left in my head for business, money-making opportunities, or to-do lists as the weather continued to deteriorate. All I wanted in that moment was to survive, and I remember praying, “God, please let me live another day.”

Thankfully, He did.

Years later, as a parent, I took a small plane from Charlotte to Washington, D.C., in below-freezing temperatures. We took off as normal and climbed into the supposedly friendly skies.

But then the pilot announced we had to turn back due to engine difficulties. And my stomach dropped with the most horrible feeling of abject uncertainty and helplessness.

In that moment, I had to face the fact that no amount or form of personal success or careful planning was going to save me. There are simply some circumstances we humans cannot control.

And so, once again, I prayed that I would make it home, this time to hug my children and raise them right.

And, once again, God allowed me to make it home.

Today, I'm older and hopefully a little wiser with not only five children but four grandchildren as well. So I look at life much differently.

I’ve gotten to see all my kids’ first steps… celebrate their birthdays… attend their school events… and help them navigate life’s inevitable challenges.

As a grandfather now, I find myself praying for many of the same things for my children’s children. I want to share stories with them – some of them just for fun. Others to teach them valuable lessons that hopefully help them avoid some of the mistakes I've made.

I want to watch them grow up and see who they become.

Ultimately, I want more for them and for me. More Christmas mornings and family dinners and birthdays and all of those ordinary occurrences that are actually extraordinary blessings.

As I partially understood in my younger days, it’s all about time and how we use it. Except that now, I realize that time isn’t money.

It’s so much more valuable than that, as I’m sure those nine passengers’ family and friends recognize all too well today.

Their time ended so quickly. One moment, according to air traffic control recordings, they were asking for permission to climb from 35,000 feet to 37,000 feet.

The next, they were screaming for help as they plummeted out of the sky.

The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash. But we don’t need their input to imagine the thoughts and desperate prayers that went through those passengers’ minds.

Nor do we need an official report to think about the family members who received phone calls no one ever thinks they’ll receive. The kind of calls that lead to empty chairs at Thanksgiving and unpurchased Christmas presents.

I can’t imagine their pain.

I don’t know why God’s ultimate answer was to take them home when he allowed me to stay here a while longer. As much as I try, I can’t understand tragedies like this.

But I have to trust that God knows what He’s doing nonetheless.

Somehow. Someway.

That’s the faith I hold to. It’s the same faith that’s gotten me through multiple intense and lingering illnesses, financial catastrophes, and personal disappointments that felt impossible to navigate.

It’s a deep-seated, all-consuming, hard-to-believe yet undeniable certainty that God has a purpose for my life – for all of our lives – even through the suffering, the unexpected, and the outright incomprehensible.

James 4:14 in the Bible reminds us that our lives are like a vapor. We appear on this earth for a little while and then leave it behind.

That's a powerful notice that we don’t have unlimited time to pursue another deal… buy another stock… catch another airplane. While those may (or may not) all be positive pursuits for the moment, our greater focus should always be on making the most of the time God gives us.

Life is ultimately meant to be about the people we love, the lives we touch, and the legacy we leave behind.

Tomorrow, I'm sure I’ll return to writing about stocks. I already have the topic, in fact, and I’ve already begun the research.

It’s what I’m good at and what I love to do.

But today, I want to remind my readers – and perhaps myself, too – that there are infinitely more important focuses than the stock market.

So if you have children, go hug them. Or, if they’re too far away, give them a call.

If you have grandchildren, don’t hesitate to spend the time with them that you can.

And if there's someone you love but feel estranged from, reach out. This is no time for grudges or false senses of pride.

Nor is it time for misplaced priorities like being so busy building wealth that you forget to properly enjoy it.

None of us know when God will call our names. So let’s commit to living each moment with purpose. It’s never too late…

Until it is.

God bless you all.

Brad Thomas
Founder, Wide Moat Research