The headlines on the front page of The New York Times stated: "272 Die As Jet Crashed On Takeoff in Chicago After Losing Engine; Worst U.S. Air Disaster." On May 25th, an American Airlines jet, flight 191, scheduled for a four hour trip to Los Angeles, never made it out of Illinois.

With their seat belts fastened, the 258 passengers and 14 crew members prepared for takeoff at 3:00 p.m. on a clear and sunny day. As the plane lifted off, the controller in the tower realized that something was immediately wrong and radioed Captain Walter Lux, "Do you want to come back?" The pilot never responded, and within moments the plane veered off to the left and crashed into an abandoned air field near O'Hare. Not one person made it out of the crash alive.

The cause? The left engine had fallen off and the bolts which should have held the engine to the underside of the wing were found near the landing gate. When the engine fell off, fuel poured out of the holes where the engine should have been. Upon impact the crash created such a fireball that the smoke could be seen eight miles away.

"Do you want to come back?' Those were the words of the controller at the tower of O'Hare Intenational Airport that day. However, the pilot never answered that question. Did he want to come back? Without doubt, the one word answer in the mind of Captain Lux was "yes." Had there been time and opportunity to reply as Captain Lux and his crew sought to control the plane, he would have gladly wanted to come back. However, there is not always the opportunity to come back. Sometimes, one may desperately want to turn around, land, and start over, but the freedom, the convenience, or even the possibility is not present.

If one is familiar with the Bible, his or her mind might well recall the account of the prodigal son. The prodigal son requested from dad his inheritance, took it, left home, and then spent it all on riotous living. It was only after a famine hit the land and he had spent all, that he began to think about coming back home. He believed that his father would at least accept him as a hired servant. He found out that his father's love caused him to be welcomed back as his son.

The unmistakable truth that is taught by this account is understood by all who read it. With God the Father, you are always welcomed back home. His words to us are always, "Do you want to come back?" The question is always "Do you want to turn around, repent, and come back home?" With God, the opportunity and the possibility are always present.