Why a Boat - Why a Bunker

​Dear Why Team member,
I hope this week’s message finds you well and having enjoyed your Independence Day celebration.
This week we consider our response abilities.
 
Why a Boat?

​Audio: 🗣

---

---

​
Why is the story of Noah and his Ark so significant anyways?
While the story certainly contains more than one message, this week I’d like to highlight the significance of Noah’s responsibility and a core teaching that would serve us well not to forget. As I see it, the story includes a significant metaphor: that into every life there will come a storm; and it is our responsibility to be prepared for it. You may know me to say “the best planners plan for the best and prepare for the worst”. And when you prepare, don’t skimp on it! I obviously can’t say for certain but, surely during Noah’s time, some prepared their boats when seeing the rain wasn’t stopping but only the Ark, built specifically ahead of time weathered the big storm, the ultimate trial.
 
What are you doing now to prepare for the inevitable storms that come into every life? Are you developing your ability to respond, building, fortifying - for yourself, for your family and in so doing for everyone?
 
How much better for all of us if all of us became much better?!! 
At least those of us who are capable and invest time and effort to become more capable? Isn’t that akin to working on our Ark?
 
Taking on more responsibility gives our life more significance and importance. Many people today have come to believe that less responsibility means more freedom - and while that is true to a point, at some point, no responsibility frees us from having a point at all. Life is best lived when we have meaning and purpose. It is not good for us to have no reason to get out of bed. Ahh, but what if we had a an ark to build that could save us all?!!
 
Why a Bunker?

Recently, I had the great pleasure of staying at the Greenbrier Hotel in Silver Springs West Virginia. I love history and the perspective it can bring - the highlight of the trip for me was learning about the bunker. Yes, the bunker built beneath a wing of the hotel to protect all of Congress should there be a nuclear attack.
 
President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s boat was a bunker. He took on the responsibility to protect our country’s leaders and preserve our future, by building a fallout bunker that was kept secret for 30 years.
 
If you ever get a chance to tour the bunker, I highly recommend it.
For 30 years, day in and day out, the shelter was made ready for 1100 occupants, members of Congress and their families, to arrive with only a few hours’ notice.
Just as Noah had to be ready at a moment’s notice, Eisenhower’s bunker was made ready each and every day.
 
Every member of Congress had a specific bunk bed with their name on it - and of course those names had to be updated over the years as the members of Congress changed.
 
The bunker was essentially a small town underground, an underground ark, stocked and prepared for up to 60 days of living - believed to be enough time for radiation from a nuclear fallout to dissipate.
 
Imagine how much fresh fruit, meat and vegetables had to be stocked to feed 1100 people for 60 days; trucked in secretly at night and stored for the next day, that may be “the day” the rain would come. And to think this went on day after day after day for 30 years - from 1962 to 1992.
 
Oh, and most of the food was not wasted as they stealth-fully routed it up into the Greenbrier Hotel.
 
Outcome does not define the quality of a choice because outcome is not available when we make a choice. 
 
No one knew then, or could they have known, if the bunker would ever be used. It’s existence, however, and the hard work of those who made it possible for 30 years, was the work of very responsible individuals - those who were prepared and able to respond if needed - in what could have been very dire circumstances.
 
We forget how the threat of a nuclear bomb was a very real and present danger. Insuring for protection has its own value whether the actual event we insure for ever happens or not. Being responsible means being able to respond. It’s to the credit of Eisenhower, and all those involved, for so many years, who invested time and resources to preserve our future.
 
How are you developing yourself, day in and day out, to be better prepared for a storm? Today, is your Best Day Ever to not live in worry, but rather reducing any worry by living on point - with a point to your life.
 
This week and beyond, consider more dedication to your self-development, to your boat, to your bunker, improving your abilities to respond; knowing that it is by taking on more responsibility, not less, that we live more meaningful, full and rewarding lives.
 
Make it a great week!
 

​Steve Luckenbach