Tales of Labrador

NAVIGATING BY THE BETHLEHEM STAR

Of the many folk songs of Labrador, "The Ballad

of Daniel McKinney" interests me most. McKinney was

a flying Pentecostal preacher and flew to his

congregations on the Labrador coast in a single

engine plane.

On December 24th, 1965 McKinney stuffed the

luggage compartment and back seat of his Piper Cub

aircraft with toys and candies and flew them to the

orphanage at North West River (45 kilometers east of

the famous Goose Bay airbase) Soon after his arrival

he was surrounded by many young, happy faces. Rev.

Daniel told them stories of the baby Jesus and then

gave them their presents. McKinney's thoughts then

turned to the return flight to Goose Bay where several

friends were waiting his arrival so they could begin

celebrating Christmas. And so, as the sun began to

slip below the mountains to the west of North

West River, McKinney walked in blowing snow conditions

to his Piper Cub equipped with skis and sitting at

the nearby airstip.Since it was now beginning to snow

fairly heavy with darkness rapidly coming on, the friend

who accompanied Daniel to his plane advised him not to

attempt the flight till morning. But, McKinney replied

the flight was only 15 minutes to Goose Bay. And he

had flown it many times before in less than ideal weather

conditions. Besides, many of the friends waiting for

him at home had just arrived from the United

States to spend Christmas eve with him and he did not

want to disappoint them. So McKinney shoved forward

the Piper's throttle and, in a flurry of snow, the

plane lifted and headed south west over the black

spruce trees toward home.

The next ten minutes of the flight were

uneventful.. Visibility was about 500 feet. He was

flying just above the trees. Those trees were actually

a comfort to McKinney for they provided his only visual

reference with the outside world - a reference that

became increasingly obscured in the growing intensity

of the snow storm. With a few knots in his stomach, he

navigated successfully to the north shore of Goose Bay.

This large bay, just east of the famous American

airbase named after it (now Canadian), was of course

frozen over and covered with snow. Over the north

shoreline McKinney faced a choice. He could fly across

the bay 12 kilometers wide. Or he could play it

safe and fly around the Bay's shore but add fifteen

minutes to his flight's duration. He chose to fly

across the white expanse of the Bay. In the swirling

snow the shoreline soon receded from view behind the

Piper Cub. The snow was thicker than he anticipated.

Daniel was soon engulfed in a world of white - in

whiteout conditions. As if someone had dumped a can of

white paint on his windshield. There was no visible

reference with the outside world to tell up from down,

east from west. No tree, no hill, no animal, no

building to tell him the direction to his destination,

or even differentiate sky from ground. No sun, no

star, no hint of blue sky to tell him what was up and

what was down. Daniel could only look at the few

instruments on the panel of his Cub and vainly wish

for a artificial horizon instrument to give him the

orientation he so badly needed. In a matter of

seconds McKinney's control of the plane was completely

disoriented. He could then be in a spiral dive, a loop

or even flying upside down for all he knew. The

inevitable happened and according to the folk song:

          He plunged to his death at midway,

        He would never see home again...

McKinney's end was truly tragic. A young man, a

good man was lost. Our sense of tragedy is only

heightened when we remember this young man's life was

suddenly snuffed out while brightening the Christmas

of orphan children.

It also seems that McKinney's death could have

been so easily averted. If only the blowing show had

calmed for a couple of minutes, if only the light of an

evening star had reached through that smothering snow

storm. Then, he would have seen the visual reference

needed to make it across Goose Bay to once more pick

up the black spruce and fly home.... But it was not

to be.

Perhaps this story is a bit of a parable pointing

to folk who fly merrily along in life without any means

of spiritual orientation and end up "buying the farm" -

a spiritual wreck. Better maybe we think of those who

keep their lives on track as they navigate life by the

Star of Bethlehem. In the teachings and deeds of Jesus

we find the constant guiding principles for our lives.

I don't mean Christ takes over our lives and rules us

in some absolute, dictatorial way. Rather, Jesus is

the friend whose constant presence and words always

gives us the orientation we need to get through life ,

despite its fierce blinding storms, its distractions.

So, at Christmas, we celebrate the light of the

Star of Bethlehem in our lives. We also bless those

around us who are guided by that same Star and are

empowered to live such worthwhile creative lives. In

this connection, I think once more of Daniel McKinney:

               He plunged to his death at midway,

               He would never see home again.

           When they found him, his body lay broken

           But not his unconquerable soul.

             Out there on the ice he lay crumbled

             Yet finally won life's goal.