Plan A or Plan B?

In 1914 Ernest Shackleton and a crew of twenty-seven men set out for Antarctica. When the expedition was just one day’s sail from its goal, their ship, the Endurance, became frozen solid in the ice. The crew was stuck there for ten months until the shifting ice crushed the ship. They salvaged the lifeboats and set up camp on the unstable ice floe. The original goal for Shackleton and his crew was to cross the continent of Antarctica. Shackleton was an adventurer and an incredibly optimistic leader who would not give up. When it became clear to him that they were not going to reach the continent, Shackleton set a new goal. To me this is the most impressive part of this story. Shackleton’s new goal, his plan B, was to get every one of his crew back home alive.

After their ship disintegrated and disappeared into the icy sea, they camped on the ice for five more months until it broke up enough for them to set off in the lifeboats across open water to tiny Elephant Island. Against all odds, they made it. The majority of the crew stayed there, while Shackleton and five others set out across the treacherous open sea in a life boat rigged up with a sail. Their goal was a whaling station on the island of South Georgia 800 miles away. They miraculously reached the island, but during the landing their boat smashed against the rocks. They were on the wrong side of the island with no boat. Wearing rags, hungry and with minimal supplies, they set off on foot on a 22-mile, 36-hour trek over the frozen, mountainous island to the whaling station on the other side. They made it. They procured a boat and, three months later, after three aborted attempts, were finally able to head back to Elephant Island for the men they had left behind.

One of the most moving parts of the narration is when Shackleton returns to icy, blistery Elephant Island. It was months past their expected return. Food rations left with the men had long ago run out. Conditions on the island were brutal. But when the ship neared shore Shackleton could see movement. He saw the men running out of their shelter. One…two…three…he slowly counted. Twenty-two. A shout went up on the ship. They were all accounted for. They were all alive. Every man on his crew had survived one of the most grueling expeditions in history.

I don’t know of anyone who likes to resort to Plan B. I don’t know what disappointments you may have faced in recent months or how many Plan A’s you’ve had to abandon. Plan A was an adventure. Plan B was a commitment. In my opinion commitment trumps adventure every time. Every time. Why? Without commitment we would not go anywhere in this world of ours. The commitment to trust God without looking back. The commitment to step off that cliff in faith, or in this case, to forge forward until odds are against you to even survive. The commitment to keep moving forward even if it means changing your original plan. God uses all sorts of situations to help us grow in our faith and understanding of His will for our lives (and to help us realize our selfish desires). He chooses to push us into a direction similar to Captain Shackleton's. But the end result may not be what we expect. It may not be anywhere near the so-called target.

Adventure is not by any means bad. In this case Shackleton was full of ambition and pursued adventure and discovery. It was the commitment he displayed through the whole ordeal that stood out. Commitment to save his crew. Comparably, I can relate this to surfing (as I do to a lot of things). Paddling out on those big days that look all gnarly is scary, I will admit. To not be scared of the power of this churning creation is, in my opinion, just plain stupid. Respect is a must. Those big days sometimes turn from a surf session into a survival session, not so unlike Shackleton's expedition. It's by God's grace we are able to accomplish infinitely more than we could ever dare to ask or hope.