"We have no hope of rescue on our own.
In our lonely waters there is someone by our side.
In our lonely waters there is someone by our side.
A silent passenger to our own sorrows, pains and weaknesses."
On Dec 29, 2011 LDS FBI agent Danny Knapp was enjoying a day off at a beach near where he was stationed in Puerto Rico. The conditions of the water were "red flag" meaning it was too dangerous for swimmers so he and his girlfriend stayed ashore. Two young men ran up to Danny telling him that their friend was trapped in the water against a riptide and could not make it back to shore.
Danny's girlfriend asked him not to enter the water but he replied that he could not let the teenager die so he grabbed his fins and entered the water and tried to save him. They both ended up trapped against the tide helplessly treading water and trying to resurface after each wave.
Danny was a strong swimmer and held the teenager up with his arm keeping his head above the water while giving him tips on how to conserve energy. The teenager wanted to give up, his strength was gone but Danny encouraged him by saying "You are going to be okay just keep going." Because of this, the young man did.
The FBI agency was alerted that an agent was in the water. They sprung into action and a rescue helicopter was sent, something that would not have likely happened for the local kid alone. As the rescuer was lowered by rope to the water he could only carry one. The teenager who had been in the water much longer was taken first. When the rescuer returned moments later Danny was face down. After crews tried to resuscitate him it was clear that Danny had passed away.
When an FBI agent dies especially when his body needs to be transported back to the US another FBI agent is stationed to stand guard over the body at all times. As this other agent was standing guard at the hospital in Puerto Rico he heard the faint wailing of a woman outside the door. The noise got closer and closer. The woman was crying hysterically. As she was intercepted and questioned before reaching the room they discovered that she was the mother of the boy that Danny had saved. In her cries she said in Spanish "Someone else's son died that that mine might live."
This mother and her son attended the funeral service for Danny that was held in Puerto Rico. This young man was humbled by Danny's sacrifice and had rededicated his life to being better and to going to school. He wanted to be just like Danny, to follow in his footsteps and join the FBI.
Danny Knapp was friends with my sister and her family who were stationed with him in Puerto Rico. This story impacted me so greatly as they recounted it that I thought of it again and again.
A Hero's Funeral
I was not there for Danny's funeral but I attended another hero's funerals which was my own fathers a few years before. He was a retired highway patrolman and military veteran. I imagine Danny's was similar in many ways. At my fathers funeral there were several uniformed officers standing at attention while another played a trumpet. Four officers wearing white gloves meticulously folded an American flag into a triangle. A high ranking officer got on one knee at my mom's eye level and gently presented her the folded flag. There was a special feeling of honor and respect that I will never forget. It was a service with white gloves, uniforms, salutes and a tender testimony of sacrifice. The entire experience was sacred.
Sacrifice and the Sacrament
I continued to ponder over Danny's story and his heroic efforts and what his funeral must have been like on Sunday during the sacrament. I looked up to see the deacons and priests with their heads bowed in respect. A white cloth was lying over the top of the sacrament trays and to me it looked like a body at rest and how it might have looked as the Savior's body was covered in linens.
My whole perception changed in that moment and I thought of the sacrament as a hero's funeral and I wondered if I was showing the same amount of respect and attention as I would have at a hero's funeral. Instead of white gloves there were white shirts, instead of hand salutes there were bowed heads. Instead of trumpets there was a sacred hymn.
I thought of how this story, that lead to a hero's funeral, applied to this great and sacred sacrifice and the sacrament. I did not know Danny personally and I only know him by this one act but it is hallowed enough that I feel it appropriate to use in this comparison.
I thought of Danny's voice telling the teenager to keep going, and that he would be okay. I thought of how, because of Danny's status as an FBI agent a helicopter came to rescue, and how the teenager was rescued and Danny lost his own life in the process. I thought of the boy's mother and her painful realization of the parents loss of their son. How she had exclaimed to the effect that someones son had died that hers might live.
Our greatest death is not physical death but the spiritual death or our separation from our God because of our imperfections. We, by nature, enter dangerous waters and become trapped and helpless. We will not survive and have no hope of rescue on our own. But in our lonely waters and struggles there is someone by our side. A silent passenger to our own sorrows, pains and weaknesses. A voice that if we listen says "I am here with you. I have felt what you feel. You are going to be okay. Keep going." A strong arm that in our darkest sorrows will help keep our head above water. Only someone who has lived a perfect life could call down the rescue for us. Only someone who has endured an Eternal pain and suffering of the Law of Judgment could attach us to the rescuing rope of Mercy that we might live.
Also behind this scene is the sacred sacrifice of another. One that this mother in this story recognized and mourned over. The sacrifice of a Father whose son "died that we might live". A Father whose sacrifice of his son did not simply entail the sons death but the offering of his son to endure the voluntary Infinite punishment of Eternal laws in our behalf. That he suffered beyond every pain and sorrow known to man and was burdened by every requirement of Judgment for the sins of the entire human race. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son."
So now as I take the sacrament I think of a hero's funeral and the sacred way in which heroes are honored. I think of white gloves and white shirts, a trumpet and a hymn, salutes and bowed heads. I think of a teenage boy who was exhausted, whose arms were too sore, tired and ready to give out and how Danny held the teenagers head above the water. I think of Danny's voice of and how he himself was also treading the endless waves. I think of his presence that called down the rescuers and delivered the boy up for rescue while he himself died. I think of the mother who recognized not only the sacrifice of Danny but the sorrow of his parents. That someone's son died that hers might live. I think of the teenager who rededicated his life to walking in Danny's footsteps. To becoming just like him and doing what he would do.
Now when I take the sacrament I compare it to a hero's funeral and a great sacrifice on my behalf. I try to honor it by rededicating my life to be like him and do as he would have me do. I bow my head in respect and reflect on his life. I try to offer the most possible sacred expression of my gratitude a broken heart and a contrite spirit and by offering the one thing that is truly mine, my will, by aligning it with his.
A link to one of the stories about Danny Knapp the FBI agent mentioned above can be found here.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
No comments:
Post a Comment